twilight

English

Etymology

From twi- (“double, half-”) +‎ light, literally ‘second light, half-light’, from Old English twēonelēoht (“twilight”). Cognate to Low German twelecht, German Zwielicht.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtwaɪlait/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

twilight (plural twilights)

1. The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.

   I could just make out her face in the twilight.

2. The time when this light is visible; the period between daylight and darkness.

   It was twilight by the time I got back home.

3. Any faint light through which something is seen; an in-between or fading condition.

   The twilight of probability. —John Locke.

Synonyms

• gloaming

Coordinate terms

• golden hour

Hyponyms

• dawn
• dusk

Derived terms

• astronomical twilight
• civil twilight
• nautical twilight
• twilightish
• twilighty
• twilight zone

Translations

light before rising, and after the setting, of the sun

Chinese: Mandarin: 黃昏 (zh), 黄昏 (zh) (huánghūn), 暮色 (zh) (mùsè), 薄暮 (zh) (bómù), 黎明 (zh) (límíng) Croatian: sȕmrāk (hr) m. Czech: soumrak (cs) m. Danish: tusmørke (da) n. Dutch: schemering (nl) f., deemstering (nl) f., tweelicht (nl) n. Esperanto: krepusko (eo) Estonian: agu; koit (morning), eha (evening) Finnish: aamuhämärä (fi), iltahämärä (fi) French: aube (fr) f. (morning), crépuscule (fr) m. (evening) German: Dämmerung (de) f., Zwielicht (de) n. Greek: λυκόφως n. (lykóphos), σούρουπο n. (súrupo), μούχρωμα n. (múxroma) Hungarian: szürkület (hu), félhomály (hu) (both before sunrise and after sunset), pirkadat (hu), pirkadás (hu), virradat (hu) (before sunrise only), alkonyat (hu) (after sunset only)

Icelandic: ljósaskipti (is) f. Italian: crepuscolo (it) m. Japanese: 夕暮れ (ja) (ゆうぐれ, yūgure), 黄昏 (ja) (たそがれ, tasogare, こうこん, kōkon) Low German: Tweidüster (nds) Luxembourgish: Dämmerung (lb) f. Malay: (sunset) teja (ms) Polish: zmierzch (pl) m. Portuguese: crepúsculo (pt) m. Russian: сумерки (ru) (súmerki) pl. Scottish Gaelic: ciaradh (gd) m. Serbian: sumrak (sr) Slovak: súmrak m. Spanish: crepúsculo (es) m. Swedish: skymning (after setting of sun only) c., gryning (before rising of sun only) c. Võro: ago; hummogunõ ago (morning), õdagunõ ago (evening)

time between daylight and darkness

Danish: skumring (da) c. French: crépuscule (fr) m., entre chien et loup (fr) German: Dämmerung (de) f. Greek: λυκόφως n. (lykóphos), μισοσκόταδο n. (misoskótaðo), σούρουπο n. (súrupo), μούχρωμα n. (múxroma) Hebrew: (rabbinic Hebrew) בין השמשות (he) (bein ha-shemashot) Italian: crepuscolo (it) m.

Luxembourgish: Dämmerung (lb) f. Portuguese: crepúsculo (pt) m. Russian: сумерки (ru) (súmerki) pl. Scottish Gaelic: ciaradh (gd) m. Serbian: сумрак (sr) (sumrak) m. Spanish: crepúsculo (es) m. Tagalog: takip-silim

faint light; dubious medium

Croatian: sȕmrāk (hr) m. Finnish: hämärä (fi), epäselvä (fi) French: pénombre (fr) f., brumes (fr) f. German: Zwielicht n., Halbdunkel n. Greek: μισοσκόταδο n. (misoskótaðo), σύθαμπο n. (síθambo) Italian: crepuscolo (it) m. Japanese: 薄明かり (ja) (うすあかり, usu-akari)

Macedonian: полумрак (mk) (pólumrak) m., самрак (mk) (sámrak) m. Russian: сумерки (ru) (súmerki) pl., сумрак (ru) (súmrak) m., полумрак (ru) (polumrák) m. Serbian: polumrak (sr), sumrak (sr) Slovak: šero n. Spanish: penumbra (es) f. Swedish: skumrask n.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: الشفق (aš-šáfaq)

Icelandic: rökkur, ljósaskipti Korean: 황혼 (hwanghon)

Adjective

twilight (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to or resembling twilight

   O’er the twilight groves and dusky caves. —Alexander Pope.

See also

• crepuscular