dim

See also: Dim, dim., dím, and dìm

Translingual

Symbol

dim

1. (mathematics) dimension

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English

Etymology

From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰem- (“to whisk, smoke, blow; dust, haze, cloud; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur, Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭm, IPA^(key): /dɪm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪm

Adjective

dim (comparative dimmer, superlative dimmest)

1. Not bright or colorful.

   The lighting was too dim for me to make out his facial features.

   • 1821, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Adonais

     that sustaining Love / Which, through the web of being blindly wove / By man and beast and earth and air and sea, / Burns bright or dim

2. (colloquial) Not smart or intelligent.

   He may be a bit dim, but he's not stupid.

3. Indistinct, hazy or unclear.

   His vision grew dimmer as he aged.

4. Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.
5. (music) Clipping of diminished.

Translations

not bright, not colourful

• Bulgarian: мътен (bg) (mǎten)
• Catalan: tènue
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 昏 (zh) (hūn), 昏暗 (zh) (hūn'àn), 暗淡 (zh) (àndàn)

• Czech: tmavý (cs), mdlý (cs)
• Dutch: donker (nl), schemerachtig (nl), schemerig (nl), mat (nl)
• Finnish: himmeä (fi)
• French: tamisé (fr), faible (fr)
• German: dämmerig, schummrig (de)
• Greek: σκοτεινός (el) m (skoteinós), θαμπός (el) m (thampós), θολός (el) m (tholós)

  Ancient: ἀμαυρός (amaurós)

• Hebrew: כהה‎ (he) (kehe)
• Hungarian: fénytelen (hu), színtelen (hu), opálos
• Italian: debole (it), fioco (it) m, fioca (it) f, oscuro (it) m, oscura (it) f

• Japanese: 薄暗い (ja) (うすぐらい, usugurai), ほの暗い (ほのぐらい, honogurai)
• Latin: fuscus (la), creper
• Latvian: blāvs
• Maori: rokuroku
• Norwegian: dim m or f, dimt n, dimme pl
• Plautdietsch: dunkel
• Polish: ciemny (pl), przyćmiony, ciemnawy, przytępiony
• Portuguese: opaco (pt), sombrio (pt)
• Romanian: tern (ro) m or n
• Russian: ту́склый (ru) (túsklyj)
• Spanish: tenue (es)
• Telugu: మసక (te) (masaka)
• Vietnamese: mờ (vi)

not smart

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遲鈍 (zh), 迟钝 (zh) (chídùn)

• Dutch: dom (nl)
• French: bête (fr)
• German: dämlich (de)
• Greek: κουτός (el) m (koutós)
• Hungarian: sötét (hu)

• Italian: tonto (it) m, tonta (it) f
• Maori: pōrewarewa, pōrewharewha
• Occitan: pèc, bèsti
• Polish: ciemny (pl), tępy (pl)
• Portuguese: besta (pt), obtuso (pt)
• Russian: тупо́й (ru) (tupój)
• Spanish: tonto (es)

indistinct

• Bulgarian: неясен (bg) (nejasen), замъглен (bg) (zamǎglen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 模糊 (zh) (móhú)

• Dutch: vaag (nl)
• French: flou (fr), indistinct (fr)
• Greek: αμυδρός (el) m (amydrós), δυσδιάκριτος (el) m (dysdiákritos)
• Hungarian: homályos (hu), elmosódott (hu), ködbe vesző (due to foggy surroundings)
• Italian: indistinto (it) m, indistinta (it) f

• Japanese: 朧気 (oboroge)
• Occitan: indistint
• Polish: niewyraźny (pl), niejasny (pl)
• Portuguese: indistinto (pt)
• Romanian: vag (ro) m or n
• Russian: сму́тный (ru) (smútnyj), нея́сный (ru) (nejásnyj)
• Spanish: tenue (es)

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

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 희미한 (huimihan)

Noun

dim (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Dimness.
   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 278:

     All about me the Red Weed clambered among the ruins, writhing to get above me in the dim. Night, the Mother of Fear and Mystery, was coming upon me.

Verb

dim (third-person singular simple present dims, present participle dimming, simple past and past participle dimmed)

1. (transitive) To make something less bright.

   He dimmed the lights and put on soft music.

2. (intransitive) To become darker.

   The lights dimmed briefly when the air conditioning was turned on.

3. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     a king among his courtiers, […] who out to dim the lustre of all his attendants

   • 1791, William Cowper, The Odyssey of Homer

     Now set the sun, and twilight dimm'd the ways.

4. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.
   • 1740, Christopher Pitt, The Aeneid

     Her starry eyes were dimm'd with streaming tears.

Derived terms

• bedim
• dimly
• dimmer (noun)

Translations

to make something less bright

• Bulgarian: помътнявам (bg) (pomǎtnjavam)
• Dutch: verduisteren (nl), dimmen (nl), afblinden
• Finnish: himmentää (fi)
• German: verdunkeln (de), dimmen (de)
• Greek: θαμπώνω (el) (thampóno), θολώνω (el) (tholóno)
• Italian: abbassare (it), affievolire (it), offuscare (it), annebbiare (it), annerire (it)

• Polish: ściemniać (pl) impf, przyciemniać impf, omroczyć pf, zaćmić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ofuscar (pt)
• Russian: затемнять (ru) (zatemnjatʹ)
• Spanish: atenuar (es)
• Tamil: மங்கலான (maṅkalāṉa)

to become darker

• Bulgarian: потъмнявам (bg) (potǎmnjavam)
• Italian: affievolirsi (it)
• Maori: parewaikohu
• Polish: ciemnieć impf, ćmić (pl) impf, mrocznieć impf, mierzchnąć impf

• Portuguese: escurecer (pt)
• Russian: тускнеть (ru) (tusknetʹ)
• Vietnamese: nhòa (vi)

Anagrams

• DMI, IDM, IM'd, IMD, MDI, MID, Mid., mid, mid-

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Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɪm]
• Hyphenation: dim

Etymology 1

From Dutch duim.

Noun

dim (plural, first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. thumb
2. inch

   Synonym: inci

Etymology 2

From English dimmer.

Noun

dim (plural, first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. high-beam headlamp on a road vehicle.

Further reading

• “dim” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

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Latvian

Verb

dim

1. 3rd person singular present indicative form of dimēt
2. 3rd person plural present indicative form of dimēt
3. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of dimēt
4. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of dimēt

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse dimmr. Related to English dim and Icelandic dimmur.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmere, indefinite superlative dimmest, definite superlative dimmeste)

1. dim
2. to have bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

References

• “dim” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From the Old Norse adjective dimmr, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz. The neuter noun is derived from the adjective. The automotive senses may be a Back-formation from - of the verb dimme.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmare, indefinite superlative dimmast, definite superlative dimmaste)

1. gloomy
2. dim
3. having bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

Related terms

• dimma, dimme (verb)

Noun 1

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (automotive, colloquial) a switching of one's headlamps from high-beam to low-beam
2. (automotive, colloquial) lever, button or other
3. (dialectal) Clipping of dimme (“twilight, half darkness”).

Noun 2

dim n (definite singular dimmet, uncountable)

1. (dialectal) dimmest, darkest part of the summer night
2. (dialectal) twilight

   Synonym: skumring

Etymology 2

Noun

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (colloquial) Clipping of dimensjon.

References

• “dim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• mid-

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dymъ, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós (“smoke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dîm/

Noun

dȉm m (Cyrillic spelling ди̏м)

1. smoke

Declension

Declension of dim

	singular	plural
nominative	dim	dimovi
genitive	dima	dimova
dative	dimu	dimovima
accusative	dim	dimove
vocative	dime	dimovi
locative	dimu	dimovima
instrumental	dimom	dimovima

Derived terms

• dimni signal

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Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dymъ, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós (“smoke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dím/

Noun

dȉm m inan

1. smoke

Inflection

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nominative	dìm
genitive	díma
	singular
nominative	dìm
accusative	dìm
genitive	díma
dative	dímu
locative	dímu
instrumental	dímom

Further reading

• “dim”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪm/

Adjective

dim

1. any
2. no, not, none

Noun

dim m (uncountable)

1. anything
2. nothing, none, nil, zero

Particle

dim

1. not

Usage notes

As a verbal particle, almost always appears mutated as ddim.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
dim	ddim	nim	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.