| 释义 |
darkness|ˈdɑːknɛs|
[OE. deorcnes, -nys, f. deorc dark a. + -nes, -nis, -nys, -ness.]
The quality or state of being dark.
1. Absence or want of light (total or partial).
a1050De Vitiis in Liber Scintill. (1889) 228 On þyssere swa micelre deorcnysse. c1320Cast. Love 1706 Another peyne they shull have of derknes. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 95 (MS. Gg) And clothede was the flour..ffor derknesse of the nyht. c1440Promp. Parv. 121 Dyrkenesse, obscuritas. 1508Fisher Wks. (1876) 50 Bytwene the shynynge lyght and black derknes. 1667Milton P.L. i. 63 No light, but rather darkness visible Serv'd only to discover sights of woe. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxv. 188 An aperture through which the darkness of the chasm was rendered visible.
2. The quality of being dark in shade or colour.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. i. i. 5 Þe wiche cloþes a darkenes of a forleten and dispised elde had[de] duskid and dirked. 1413Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle ii. lix. (1859) 57 The fyre taketh smoke and derkenesse of the mater to whiche he is conioyned. 1818Shelley Laon xii. xxiii. 7 The glossy darkness of her streaming hair. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. xviii. §3 Darkness mingled with colour gives the delight of its depth and power.
3. Want of sight; blindness.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 272 Ende I wil as Edippe in derknesse My sorowfull liff. 1568Turner Herbal iii. 6 The litle filmes that go over the eyes, wherof darknes doth rise. 1842Tennyson Godiva 70 His eyes, before they had their will, Were shrivell'd into darkness in his head.
4. fig.
a. The want of spiritual or intellectual light; esp. common in biblical imagery.
kingdom, power of darkness: the empire of evil. prince of darkness: Satan.
c1340Cursor M. 17881 (Trin.) Þo folk in dedly derkenes stad Þis grete liȝt made hem glad. 1382Wyclif Col. i. 13 The which delyuerde vs fro the power of derknisses. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 The prynce of derknes..our goostly ennemy the deuyll. 1531Tindale Exp. 1 John 15 All that lyue in ignoraunce are called darknesse. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 140 A second famous Leader under the Prince of Darknesse. 1712Addison Spect. No. 419 ⁋5 The Darkness and Superstition of later Ages. 1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) II. viii. 6 The powers of darkness..concur..in misleading. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 229 They [the clergy] were..the incarnation of the average darkness of the hour.
b. Absence of the ‘light’ of life; death.
1388Wyclif Job x. 21 Befor that Y go..to the derk lond, and hilid with the derkness of deth. 1535Coverd. Job x. 21 To that londe of darcknesse & shadowe of death. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 14 If I must die, I will encounter darknesse as a bride, And hugge it in mine armes. Mod. The darkness of the tomb.
5. Gloom of sorrow, trouble, or distress.
c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. 142 There is some darkness happened betwixt the two favourites. 1811Shelley Bigotry's Victim iii. 7 The darkness of deepest dismay.
6. A condition or environment which conceals from sight, observation, or knowledge; obscurity; concealment, secrecy.
1382Wyclif Matt. x. 27 That thing that Y say to ȝou in dercnessis, saye ȝee in the liȝt. 1543–4Act 35 Hen. VIII, c. 1 The vaile of darcknes of the vsurped power..of the see and bishoppes of Rome. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 156 To vnfold, though lately we intended To keepe in darkenesse, what occasion now Reueales. 1692E. Walker Epictetus' Mor. (1737) ‘To the Author’, Truth's still in darkness undiscovered. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 253, I found the question wrapped in darkness. 1889J. Corbett Monk xiii. 191 This formidable figure that had arisen so suddenly and with such mystery, this man of darkness [Monk].
7. Obscurity of meaning.
1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 165 Poeticall Clerkes..delightyng muche in their owne darckenesse. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 156 The vse of old wordes is not the greatest cause of Salustes roughnes and darknesse. 1666Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual., Apt to occasion much darknesse and difficulty in our enquiries into the things themselves. a1715Burnet Own Time (1823) I. 279 He preached and prayed often himself, but with so peculiar a darkness.
8. Phonetics. The quality of being dark (sense 6 d).
1906W. Rippman Sounds of Spoken Eng. 47 The ‘darkness’ of the [l] is particularly noticeable when it comes at the end of a word. |