cimmerian

See also Cimmerian

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪˈmɪərɪən/

Etymology

From Cimmerian.

Adjective

cimmerian (comparative more cimmerian, superlative most cimmerian)

1. perpetually dark or gloomy
   • 1631: Milton, L'Allegro

     There, under ebon shades... in dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.

   • 1740: George Frideric Handel and Charles Jennens, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

     As ragged as thy locks,
     In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.

   • 1820: Thomas Love Peacock, The Four Ages of Poetry

     ...the darkness of antiquated barbarism, in which he buries himself like a mole, to throw up the barren hillocks of his Cimmerian labours.

2. (figuratively) mentally dark; ignorant
   • 1770: Baron D'Holbach, The System of Nature

     The source of man’s unhappiness is his ignorance of Nature.... To remove this Cimmerian darkness... requires the clue of Ariadne.

Translations

perpetually dark or gloomy

• German: kimmerische (de)

Derived terms

• cimmerianism
• cimmerianize