darkness
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
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:
- 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, countable) Any space that such colour pervades.
- Out of the darkness came some flickers of light.
- (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 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, 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.
- 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime:
- Shepard: Can you tell me anything about the beacon?
Dr. Warren: It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime!
Dr. Warren: Miraculous new technologies. Groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets are locked inside?
Dr. Manuel: We have unearthed the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness.
Synonyms[edit]
- dark (noun)
Antonyms[edit]
Hyponyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- act of darkness
- better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
- better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness
- better to light one candle than to curse the darkness
- better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness
- crater of eternal darkness
- Egyptian darkness
- nymph of darkness
- pitch darkness
- semi-darkness, semidarkness
- virtual darkness
Translations[edit]
state of being dark
|
gloom
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the product of being dark
state of reflecting little light; tending to blackish or brownish
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms suffixed with -ness
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)knɪs
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)knəs
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations