silver lining
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Originating in the John Milton's poem “Comus”;[1] see 1634 quotation. The proverb every cloud has a silver lining is an allusion to the relevant passage.
Noun [edit]
silver lining (plural silver linings)
- (figuratively) A good aspect of a mostly bad event.
- 1634, John Milton, “Comus”:
- Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night? / I did not err: there does a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night, / And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.
- 1634, John Milton, “Comus”:
Synonyms [edit]
- (good aspect): bright side
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
a good aspect of a mostly bad event
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See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ “every cloud has a silver lining” in Stuart Berg Flexner and Doris Flexner, Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings, and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings, Olde and New, Avon Books (1993), ISBN 0380762382, page 52. Quoted in “Re: Every cloud has a silver lining”, phrases.org.uk.
