darkness

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

darckness (obsolete)
darkeness (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English derknesse, from Old English deorcnes; equivalent to dark +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation[edit]

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːknəs/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑɹknɪs/
Audio (US)
(file)
Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)knɪs, -ɑː(ɹ)knəs
Hyphenation: dark‧ness

Noun[edit]

darkness (countable and uncountable, plural darknesses)

(uncountable) The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.
The darkness of the room made it difficult to see.
- 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl
  Over everything was darkness and thick silence, and the smell of dust and sunflowers.
- 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, OCLC 40817384:
  
  Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
(uncountable) The state or quality of reflecting little light, of tending to a blackish or brownish color.
The darkness of her skin betrayed her Mediterranean heritage.
(uncountable) Gloom; gloominess; depression.
(countable) The product of being dark.
(uncountable) Lack of understanding or compassion; spiritual or mental blindness.
(uncountable) Secrecy; concealment.
(uncountable) Lack of knowledge; obscurity or meaning or intelligibility; the unknown.
- 1899 Feb, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, page 195:
  It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.
(uncountable) Hell.

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

state of being dark

Abkhaz: алашьцара (alaš̍cara)
Albanian: terr (sq) m, errësirë (sq) f, mugëtirë (sq) f
Arabic: ظَلَام‎ m (ẓalām), ظُلْمَة‎ (ar) f (ẓulma)
Armenian: խավար (hy) (xavar), մթություն (hy) (mtʿutʿyun)
Aromanian: ãntunearic, ntunearic n, scutidi f
Asturian: escuridá (ast) f
Azerbaijani: qaranlıq (az), zülmət (az)
Belarusian: це́мра f (cjémra), змрок m (zmrok)
Bulgarian: мрак (bg) m (mrak), тъмнина (bg) f (tǎmnina)
Catalan: foscor (ca) f
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵍⵍⴰⵙⵜ f (tallast)
Cherokee: ᎤᎳᏏᎬᎢ (ulasigvi)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 黑暗 (zh) (hēi'àn)
Czech: tma (cs) f, temnota (cs) f
Danish: mørke (da)
Dutch: duisternis (nl) f, donkerheid f
Egyptian:

(kkw m),

(wḫ m),

(snkt f)
Esperanto: mallumo (eo)
Estonian: pimedus
Ewe: viviti
Finnish: pimeys (fi)
French: obscurité (fr) f, ténèbres (fr) f pl, (dated) sombreur (fr), noirceur (fr) f
Galician: escuridade (gl) f, tebras (gl) f pl, mourén m, foscume m, escureza f, calixen f
Georgian: სიბნელე (sibnele), წყვდიადი (c̣q̇vdiadi), უკუნეთი (uḳuneti)
German: Dunkelheit (de) f, Finsternis (de) f
Gothic: 𐍂𐌹𐌵𐌹𐍃 n (riqis)
Greek: σκοτάδι (el) n (skotádi), έρεβος (el) n (érevos), ζόφος (el) m (zófos)
Ancient: σκότος m or n (skótos), ζόφος m (zóphos), δνόφος m (dnóphos)
Hebrew: חשיכה‎ f (khashekha)
Hindi: अंधेरा (hi) m (andherā), अन्धेरा (hi) m (andherā)
Hungarian: sötétség (hu)
Hunsrik: tunkelheet
Icelandic: myrkur (is) n, dimma (is) f, nifl (is) n, ljósleysa f
Ido: tenebro (io)
Indonesian: kegelapan (id)
Istriot: tienabre
Italian: oscurità (it) f, tenebre (it) f pl
Japanese: 闇 (ja) (やみ, yami), 暗黒 (ja) (あんこく, ankoku)
Javanese: pepeteng
Kapampangan: kedalumduman
Kazakh: қараңғылық (kk) (qarañğılıq), түнек (tünek)
Khmer: ភាពងងឹត (pʰiep ŋɔŋɨt)
Korean: 암흑 (ko) (amheuk) (暗黑 (ko)), 어두움 (어둠) (eoduum (eodum))
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: تاریکی‎ (ku) (tarîkî)
Latgalian: timss m, tymsums m
Latin: tenebrae (la) f pl, caligo f, obscuritas f, nox (la)
Latvian: tumsa f
Lithuanian: tamsa (lt) f
Luxembourgish: Däischtert (lb) f, Donkelheet (lb) f

Macedonian: темнина f (temnina), мрак m (mrak)
Malagasy: ny maìzina (mg)
Maltese: dlam
Maori: hinapouri, taipouri, whēuriuri
Marathi: अंधार (andhār)
Middle English: derknesse
Mwani: kisi
Navajo: chahałheeł
Ngazidja Comorian: hidza 7
Northern Sami: seavdnjat, seavdnjadas
Norwegian:
Bokmål: mørke n

Nynorsk: mørker n, mørke n
Occitan: foscor (oc) f
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: тьма f (tĭma)
Old English: þīestru f
Persian: تیرگی‎ (fa) (tiregi), تاریکی‎ (fa) (târiki)
Polish: ciemność (pl) f, mrok (pl) m
Portuguese: escuridão (pt) f, trevas (pt) f pl
Quechua: laqha
Romagnol: bur
Romanian: întuneric (ro), întunecime (ro) f
Russian: темнота́ (ru) f (temnotá), тьма (ru) f (tʹma), мрак (ru) m (mrak), потёмки (ru) f pl (potjómki)
Sanskrit: रजस् (sa) n (rajas), ध्वान्त (sa) n (dhvānta), अन्धकार (sa) n (andhakāra), तमस् (sa) n (tamas)
Scottish Gaelic: dubhar m, dorchadas m, dubh (gd) m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: тама f

Roman: tama (sh) f, tamnoća, mračnina, mračnost (sh)
Slovak: tma (sk) f, temnota f
Slovene: tema (sl) f
Spanish: oscuridad (es) f
Sumerian: 𒂿 (/etutum/), 𒋯 (/gansis/), 𒌖 (/itima/), 𒀯𒅊 (/mulsig/), 𒍪𒈬𒊌 (/sumug/), 𒌓𒄷𒄭 (/udmud/)
Swedish: mörker (sv) n
Tagalog: kadiliman
Tamil: இருள் (ta) (iruḷ)
Telugu: చీకటి (te) (cīkaṭi), అంధకారము (te) (andhakāramu)
Thai: ความมืด (th) (kwaam mêut)
Tocharian B: orkamo
Tok Pisin: tudak
Turkish: karanlık (tr)
Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎄𐎂𐎚 (mdgt)
Ukrainian: те́мрява (uk) f (témrjava), тьма́ f (tʹmá), мо́рок m (mórok), темно́та f (temnóta), темнота́ f (temnotá)
Urdu: اندھیرا‎ m (andherā)
Vietnamese: bóng tối
Welsh: tywyllwch (cy)
West Frisian: tsjusternis
Yoruba: okunkun
Yámana: akuš

gloom

Catalan: tenebres (ca) f pl
Danish: mørke (da)
Dutch: schemering (nl) f
Esperanto: tenebro (eo)
Finnish: synkkyys (fi)
French: noirceur (fr), (dated) sombreur (fr)

Italian: buio (it) m
Middle English: derknesse
Portuguese: trevas (pt) f pl
Romanian: întristare (ro) f, tristețe (ro) f
Spanish: tinieblas (es) f pl

the product of being dark

Finnish: pimeys (fi)
French: ténèbres (fr) f pl, noirceur (fr) f

Middle English: derknesse
Scottish Gaelic: dubh (gd) m

state of reflecting little light; tending to blackish or brownish

Catalan: negror (ca) f
Finnish: tummuus
French: noirceur (fr), (dated) sombreur (fr)
Galician: negror m
Italian: scuro (it) m
Middle English: derknesse

Northern Sami: seavdnjatvuohta
Portuguese: escuro (pt)
Romanian: negreală (ro) f
Scottish Gaelic: dubhar m, dorchadas m, dubh (gd) m

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} malhelo

Anagrams[edit]

Danskers