darken
Etymology
Synonyms Related terms Translations Translations
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Etymology
From Middle English derkenen, dirkenen, from Old English *deorcnian, *diercnian, from Proto-West Germanic *dirkinōn, equivalent to dark + -en.
Cognate with Scots derken, durken, Old High German tarchanjan, terchinen, Middle High German terken, derken.
Pronunciation Verbdarken (darkens, present participle darkening; simple past and past participle darkened)
- (transitive) To make dark or darker by reducing light.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗, lines 56-58:
- So spake the Sovran voice, and Clouds began
To darken all the Hill […]
- (intransitive) To become dark or darker (having less light).
- (impersonal) To get dark (referring to the sky, either in the evening or as a result of cloud).
- 1847 October 15, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XV, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC ↗, page 289 ↗:
- Well, I must go in now; and you too: it darkens.
- (transitive) To make dark or darker in colour.
- (intransitive) To become dark or darker in colour.
- 1979, Mary Stewart, The Last Enchantment, New York: Fawcett Crest, Book 4, Chapter 4, p. 405:
- The lovely hair had lost its rose-gold glimmer, and had darkened to rose-brown […]
- (transitive) To render gloomy, darker in mood.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene iv]:
- With these forced thoughts, I prithee, darken not
The mirth o’ the feast.
- (intransitive) To become gloomy, darker in mood.
- 1797, Ann Radcliffe, The Italian (novel), London: T. Cadell Jun[ior] and W. Davies, Volume 2, Chapter 9, p. 303,
- His countenance darkened while he spoke […]
- 1942, Emily Carr, “Mrs. Crane”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC ↗:
- Alice’s big eyes darkened with trouble.
- 1797, Ann Radcliffe, The Italian (novel), London: T. Cadell Jun[ior] and W. Davies, Volume 2, Chapter 9, p. 303,
- (transitive) To blind, impair the eyesight.
- 1773, Samuel Johnson, letter to James Boswell dated 5 July, 1773, in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, Volume I, London: Charles Dilly, p. 424,
- When your letter came to me, I was so darkened by an inflammation in my eye, that I could not for some time read it.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto IV:
- Such clouds of nameless trouble cross
All night below the darken’d eyes;
With morning wakes the will, and cries,
‘Thou shalt not be the fool of loss.’
- (intransitive) To be blinded, lose one’s eyesight.
- (transitive) To cloud, obscure, or perplex; to render less clear or intelligible.
- 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC ↗:
- […] such was his wisdome, as his Confidence did seldome darken his Fore-sight […]
- (transitive) To make foul; to sully; to tarnish.
- c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iv]:
- I must not think there are
Evils enow to darken all his goodness:
- (intransitive) To be extinguished or deprived of vitality, to die.
Conjugation of darken
infinitive | (to) darken | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | darken | darkened | |
2nd-person singular | darken, darkenest† | darkened, darkenedst† | |
3rd-person singular | darkens, darkeneth† | darkened | |
plural | darken | ||
subjunctive | darken | darkened | |
imperative | darken | — | |
participles | darkening | darkened |
†Archaic or obsolete.
- French: obscurcir (reflexive), assombrir (reflexive)
- German: verdunkeln
- Italian: imbrunire
- Russian: темне́ть
- French: foncer (reflexive)
- German: verdunkeln
- Italian: imbrunire
- Russian: темне́ть
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
