darkn.
/dɑːk/, U.S. /dɑrk/ 1.
a. Chiefly with the. The total or partial absence of light; a state or condition in which there is little or no light; darkness, esp. that of night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [noun]
thesternessc888
thesterc897
murkOE
theosterleykc1000
darkc1300
darkheadc1300
murknessa1325
therknessa1325
darknessc1350
tenebres1413
tenebrousa1450
obscurity1481
tenebrosity1490
obscureness1509
dern?a1513
sable?a1513
darksomeness1571
fuliginousness1576
darkishness1583
murksomeness1625
obscure1667
soot1789
tenebrity1789
nightness1839
raylessness1843
lightlessness1845
darkling1882
unlight1883
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 1431 He ladde hure bi þe derke In to his nywe werke.
c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 1920 To seke Crist in the derke with lanternes and with fire-brandes.
1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 160 Gropyng in the darcke.
1598 S. Rowlands Betraying of Christ sig. Givv The Sunne was hid, nights darke approcht apace.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §276 If you come suddenly..out of the Dark into a Glaring Light, the eye is dazeled for a time.
1765 C. Johnstone Chrysal III. ii. xxiii. 271 He dares not to sleep by himself, or be a moment alone in the dark.
1898 Amer. Phrenol. Jrnl. Mar. 92/2 He was a large man, and always courageous,..but, for some unknown reason, was afraid of the dark.
1965 G. Jones Island of Apples ii. x. 160 In the dark of the passage stood Buddug, with a candle in her hand.
2003 K. Hosseini Kite Runner (2004) xi. 116 We didn't say anything. Just sat in the dark, listened to..the wail of a siren in the distance.
b. figurative and in figurative contexts.See also a leap in the dark at leap n.1 1c.
ΚΠ
c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 107 Schilde vs also, Þat þorw his lyht from þe derke To-gedere mote we go.
a1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess (Tanner 346) (1871) l. 609 To derk is turnyd al my liȝt.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) li. Prol. iv Lyght of grace that dirk of sinn dyd hyde.
1704 D. Nairne tr. King James II Sentiments Divers Subj. Piety in tr. Abridgment Life James II 130 They were enlighten'd..whilst the rest of the World was wrapt up in the Dark of Ignorance and Idolatry.
1879 R. Browning Ivan Ivanovitch in Dramatic Idyls 62 Man's inch of masterdom,—spot of life, spirt of fire,—To star the dark and dread.
1991 C. Mansall Discover Astrol. v. 68/1 Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is the ‘light-bringer’ causing the dark of ignorance to be lit by enlightenment.
c. The time between sunset and sunrise, which is not illuminated by the sun; night time; night. Also (chiefly in phrases, as after dark): the onset of night; nightfall.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun]
nighteOE
nightertalec1300
darkc1400
nightertimec1425
night-timec1430
night-tidea1500
night-season1530
darkmans?1536
Nox1567
moonshine1652
darkie?1738
the watches of the night1826
nite1928
bat-flight1934
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > evening > [noun] > twilight, dusk, or nightfall
nighteOE
evengloamOE
eveningOE
gloamingc1000
darknessa1382
twilighting1387
crepusculum1398
crepusculec1400
darkc1400
twilight1412
sky1515
twinlightc1532
day-going?1552
cockshut1592
shutting1598
blind man's holiday1599
candle-lighting1605
gropsing1606
nightfall1612
dusk1622
torchlighta1656
candlelight1663
crepuscle1665
shut1667
mock-shade1669
close1696
duskish1696
glooma1699
setting1699
dimmit1746
to-fall of the day or night1748
darklins1767
even-close1781
mirkning1790
gloaming-shot1793
darkening1814
bat-flying time1818
gloama1821
between-light1821
settle1822
dayfall1823
evenfall1825
onfall1825
owl-hoot1832
glooming1842
darkfall1884
smokefall1936
dusk-light1937
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1977) l. 1755 For daȝed neuer anoþer day þat ilk derk after, Er dalt were þat ilk dome þat Danyel deuysed.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 4773 It droȝe to þe derke.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 180v The derke was done & the day sprange.
c1600 (c1350) Alisaunder (Greaves) (1929) l. 714 (MED) When it dreew too þe derk & þe daie slaked.
1771 E. Long Trial Farmer Carter's Dog 19 One Evening after dark.
1855 Harper's Mag. July 272/1 A youth whose life in the country has been an unintermitted toil from dawn to dark.
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise 93 While day and dark, and dark and day went by.
1915 D. Haig Diary 12 May in War Diaries & Lett. 1914–18 (2005) 123 A young officer was in a German dugout all day and returned at dark with only five men.
2005 S. Amick Lake, River & Other Lake lxxiv. 331 They'd managed to make it down to the water's edge before dark. They hadn't missed the sunset.
d. Chiefly in plural. A dark place or location. Now rare (archaic in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [noun] > a dark place
darkc1540
a well of a1843
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 38v So I wilt in the wod..Till I drowgh till a derke and the Dere lost.
1587 J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) i. Elstride f. 16 Like as you see in darkes, if light appeare, Strayght way to that ech man directs his eyes.
1706 D. Defoe Jure Divino i. 8 Above the Skyes they fix'd his blest abode, And from the Darks of Hell fetch'd up the God.
a1881 S. Lanier Eng. Novel (1883) 47 Those small darks which are enclosed by caves and crumbling dungeons.
1998 D. Monroe Lost Bks. Merlyn (2004) 14 Silent calls went forth..and were answered by aroused voices amongst the darks of the Forest.
2. † b. Obscurity of meaning. Obsolete. rare.
a. The state or condition of being concealed, unknown, or obscure; obscurity. Chiefly in in the dark: in concealment or secrecy; in obscurity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > [noun] > making obscure > obscure condition
darknessc1384
darkc1405
veiledness1662
occultness1727
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Cook's Tale (Hengwrt) (1870) l. 4338 If euer..Herde I a Millere bettre yset awerk, He hadde a iape of malice in the derk.
1553 T. Paynell Pandectes Euangelycall Lawe ii. xxi. f. 33 Pray to thy father, which is in secrete, and thy father whiche seeth in secrete shall rewarde thee openlye. (To doe a thynge in the darke, is onlye to wyll to be sene of God).
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xlii. sig. P8 Vice,..euer thinks in this darke, to hide her abhorred foulnesse.
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) ii. §4 147 No man truely knowes another. This I perceive in my selfe, for I am in the darke to all the world, and my nearest friends behold mee but in a cloud. View more context for this quotation
1708 F. Atterbury 14 Serm. Pref. p. ii All he says of himself is, that he is an Obscure Person; One, I suppose, he means, that is in the Dark..that he may take advantage from thence to attack the Reputation of others, without hazarding his own.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xcvi. 342 Such legislation..is usually procured in the dark and by questionable means.
1975 Salt Lake Tribune 1 Mar. 15/5 We do not want..a government that sneaks around doing business in the dark.
2018 Namibian Sun (Nexis) 13 Dec. We saw things that were done in the dark come to light.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > [noun]
deepnessa1000
subtletya1387
difficultyc1405
mistiheadc1425
darknessc1450
obscurity1474
profoundnessc1475
obscureness1509
profundity1559
perplexity1563
opacity1575
darksomeness1583
perplexednessa1586
deptha1593
spinosity1605
abstruseness1628
abstrusity1649
inevidence1673
enigmaticalness1684
dark1699
indistinctness1704
confusion1729
reconditeness1779
obfuscity1832
oracularity1840
irrecognizability1847
recondity1856
unrecognizableness1865
crypticity1892
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 175 The Threat had something of dark in it.
3. A state of ignorance. Chiefly in in the dark (about, as to, etc.): in a state of ignorance (about something); lacking knowledge or information (about something); frequently in to keep (a person) in the dark (about, as to, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > intellectual ignorance > [adjective]
thestera900
thestria900
blindc1000
darkc1350
lightless?1406
obscurea1500
mistya1522
blinded1535
unilluminated1579
unlightened1587
stone-blind1596
endarkened1612
dark1628
benighted1637
unenlightened1650
bedarkened1655
unirradiated1792
darkened1856
1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer viii. f. 243 She sayes I may as well goe talke to stones, As tell them ought. For, they are in the dark; And, what they see and heare, they do not mark.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xxiii. 145 If here again we enquire how this is done, we are equally in the dark.
1701 J. Edwards Free Disc. conc. Truth & Error 76 They were all in the dark as to these Profound Points.
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 202 I hope you will no longer keep me in the dark. Of what am I suspected?
1881 United Service Sept. 380 We were left in the dark as to the real cause of our enemy's sudden and unexpected departure.
1958 J. Kerouac Interview in Empty Phantoms (2005) 70 I'm as completely in the dark about all this new cruel ganging-up business as you..or anyone else.
2016 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 21 Apr. 39/2 He seizes on evidence that suggests Thatcher was somehow kept in the dark about the true nature of the European enterprise.
4. † a. figurative. A blot or blemish. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > spot or mark
spotOE
markOE
tachea1400
macula?a1425
ruby1542
plotch1548
flea-biting1552
fleck1598
blanch1608
staina1616
naeve1619
neve1624
dark1637
sunspot1651
pip1676
liver spot1684
beauty spot1795
heat-spot1822
spilus1822
ink-spot1839
punctation1848
punctuation1848
macule1864
soldier's spots1874
pock1894
mouche1959
1637 J. Shirley Lady of Pleasure i. sig. B2v Had the Poet not beene brib'd to a modest Expression of your Anticke gambolls, in't, Some darkes had beene discovered, and the deeds too.
b. Dark colour or shade. Esp. Painting: (any of) the dark parts of a picture or other image representing or reproducing darkness or shade (cf. light n.1 13a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > [noun] > dark colour
dark1653
subfusc1710
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > light and shade > [noun] > shade
shadow1486
dark1653
shade1662
obscure1814
penumbra1826
lowlights1842
cast shadow1849
1653 Duchess of Newcastle Poems & Fancies 161 The Dark and Light so intermix'd are laid.
1725 J. Richardson Ess. Theory of Painting (ed. 2) 124 Very commonly a Picture consists of a Mass of Light, and another of Shadow... And sometimes 'tis composed of a Mass of Dark at the bottom, another Lighter above that, and another for the upper part still Lighter.
1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing iii. 153 A light is made brighter by being opposed to a dark.
1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 287 Angelico lives in an unclouded light: his shadows themselves are colour; his lights are not the spots, but his darks.
1900 Amer. Amateur Photographer Sept. 428 A longer exposure would have enabled you to get more and truer gradation in the darks.
2011 Metrop. Mus. Art Bull. 69 22 In the Metropolitan version they [sc. the hands] have been moved farther apart, which..makes for a more pleasing arrangement of lights and darks in this part of the painting.
c. Any of various objects or substances which are dark in colour or shade. Also: a breed or variety of animal, esp. a domestic hen, distinguished by a dark colour.
ΚΠ
?1672 Eng. Acad. 31 Of colours for garments...Use Masticot for the Lights. Pink and Umber for the Darks.
1838 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 27 June Pelargoniums (darks)—First prize, Messrs. Keefe. Second prize, Mr. Bridgford.
1896 Cassell's Compl. Bk. Sports & Pastimes (rev. ed.) 662 In darks the hens are beautifully pencilled all over with pretty black marks on a grey ground.
1924 Poultry Tribune Feb. 57/1 There were 104 birds entered in the Light Brahma class, and 67 Darks.
1992 Artist's & Illustrator's Mag. Oct. 40/1 (advt.) Senmelier offer the largest range of soft pastels available, 552 in total, including a superb selection of darks plus 25 iridescents.
2008 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 June 51/1 The laundry is divided in half, with Marc doing the darks and Amy doing the lights.
5. A member of a black or dark-skinned group of people. Now rare (usually derogatory and offensive in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun]
AfriceOE
MoorOE
EthiopOE
blomana1225
Ethiopiana1325
blue mana1387
Moriana1387
black mana1398
blackamoor1525
black Morian1526
black boy1530
molen1538
Nigro1548
Nigrite1554
Negro1555
neger1568
nigger1577
blackfellow1598
Kaffir1607
black1614
thick-lipsa1616
Hubsheea1627
black African1633
blackface1704
sambo1704
Cuffee1713
Nigritian1738
fellow1753
Cuff1755
blacky1759
mungo1768
Quashie1774
darkie?1775
snowball1785
blue skin1788
Moriscan1794
sooterkin1821
nigc1832
tar-brush1835–40
Jim Crow1838
sooty1838
mokec1847
dinge1848
monkey1849
Siddi1849
dark1853
nigre1853
Negroid1860
kink1865
Sam1867
Rastus1882
schvartze1886
race man1896
possum1900
shine1908
jigaboo1909
smoke1913
golliwog1916
jazzbo1918
boogie1923
jig1924
melanoderm1924
spade1928
jit1931
Zulu1931
eight ball1932
Afro1942
nigra1944
spook1945
munt1948
Tom1956
boot1957
soul brother1957
nig-nog1959
member1962
pork chop1963
splib1964
blood1965
non-voter1966
moolinyan1967
Oreo1968
boogaloo1972
pongo1972
moolie1988
1853 Yankee Notions Sept. 260/1 'Hallo, what's going on; that mule at it again!' 'Ye-ye-yes sah, he, he he's jiss about ki-ki-kill'd Sam stone dead, sah!' says one of the young darks.
1879 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 19 July 14 No other ‘dark’ was ever so particular about his linen.
1950 Dark People in Melbourne (Victorian Council Social Service) 25 Although they would prefer to marry darks, a good number of the dark boys..cannot provide the amenities which association with whites leads the girls to expect.
1977 K. Gilbert Living Black viii. 127 Some of the darks are not too happy.
Phrases
dark of the moon n. the time at or near new moon when there is no moonlight; cf. dark moon n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > [noun] > lunar month > periods within or phases of the moon
full moonOE
new moonOE
waningc1000
new of the moona1398
quarter?a1425
plenilune?a1475
neomeniaa1535
lunationc1549
interlune1561
wane1563
neomeny1569
dark of the moon1591
month of apparition1594
dark moon1615
plenilunium1615
moon1709
interlunation1813
quartering1880
1591 J. Pauncefote tr. J. de Caumont Firme Found. Catholike Relig. 41 Here is the Church..wounding (as it were in the dark of the moon) simple and plain meaning folke: but now how blinde is he that erreth in the ful moone?
1642 N. Bernard Whole Proc. Siege Drogheda 20 Wee were assured by all that came from them that in this darke of the Moon, we should feele their utmost.
1801 tr. ‘C. F. Damberger’ Trav. Interior Afr. 122 If a boy is born..in the dark of the moon.
1945 T. Williams Battle of Angels ii. i. 41 In the dark of the moon, beside a broken fence rail in some big rolling meadow.
2007 Griffith Observer (Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles) Sept. 7/2 It [sc. the first crescent moon] is the only uniquely identifiable phase, for it appears just after the dark of the moon.
Compounds
dark adaptation n. the process by which the eye adapts to very low levels of light, which includes dilation of the pupil and reconstitution of the photopigment rhodopsin in the rods of the retina; the condition of being adapted to such light; cf. light adaptation n. at light n.1 Compounds 3.The need for reconstitution of rhodopsin makes dark adaptation relatively slow in comparison with light adaptation. [Probably after German Dunkeladaptation (1895 or earlier).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > types of vision > [noun] > scotopia
dark adaptation1897
scotopia1915
twilight vision1921
1897 Proc. Royal Soc. 61 49 Under the above conditions—the eye being in the condition of dark adaptation—the green near E is the most potent, and the violet half of the spectrum is more potent than the red.
1979 J. Muirden Sidgwick's Amateur Astronomer's Handbk. (ed. 4) xvii. 267 For observations requiring maximum dark adaptation it is a good plan to wear an eye-shade which can be flapped up against the forehead when observing.
2002 Guardian (Nexis) 29 June (Home section) 6 Light transmitted even through the closed lids of people sleeping was enough to prevent dark adaptation.
dark-adapted adj. exhibiting dark adaptation; of or relating to dark adaptation; cf. light-adapted adj. at light n.1 Compounds 3. [Probably after German dunkeladaptiert (1896 or earlier).]
ΚΠ
1897 Proc. Royal Soc. 61 49 These results agree with those obtained by Captain Abney who also worked with the dark adapted eye.
1946 Nature 31 Aug. 303/2 Perhaps it will be possible to find somebody who has more visual purple in the dark-adapted state.
2007 New Yorker 20 Aug. 33/2 People coming here at night will be dark-adapted, so having more light would actually make it harder for them to see when they leave.
dark reaction n. Biochemistry the phase of photosynthesis in which glucose is produced from carbon dioxide, using ATP and NADPH formed by the light reaction (cf. light reaction n. at light n.1 Compounds 3); any of the chemical reactions that occur in this phase.Although not dependent on energy derived from light, this phase does require light for the activation of enzymes involved in its reactions.
ΚΠ
1919 Ann. Bot. 33 518 Though certain stages in the complex chain of reactions of carbon assimilation are certainly photochemical, yet other subsequent stages are ‘dark reactions’.
1982 M. J. Dring Biol. Marine Plants iii. 44 Photosynthesis must consist of two distinct processes: a photochemical process (or ‘light reaction’) influenced primarily by irradiance and chlorophyll concentration; and an enzymic, chemical process (the ‘dark reaction’).
2018 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115 9334/1 We know that the division of photosynthesis into light and dark reactions is inadequate because the activity of a number of chloroplast enzymes..is strictly controlled by light.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
darkadj.
/dɑːk/, U.S. /dɑrk/ I. Literal uses.
1. † c. Of a person: in confinement, imprisoned. Only in to keep (a person) dark: to keep (a person) in confinement on the grounds of insanity. Obsolete.Cf. dark house n., darkroom n. 1.
a. Of the night or a part of the night: not illuminated by the sun; characterized by (relative) absence of light. Frequently predicative, with non-referential it as subject, as in it got dark, it was almost dark, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective]
blinda1000
darkOE
lightlessOE
murkOE
therka1325
murkfula1400
unsheena1400
tenebrousc1420
tenebrose1490
tenebrate1492
sable?a1513
unlightsome1574
tenebrious1594
blindfold1601
Stygian1602
dayless1657
unenlightened1662
darklinga1718
rayless1727
tenebrific1786
twinkless1830
transdiurnal1848
glimmerless1889
gleamless1891
unlightened1896
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > unilluminated or unilluminating
darkOE
lightlessa1398
unlighted?1574
shady1605
beamless1679
unshining1682
unluminous1754
unlit1787
unillumed1796
unilluminated1824
unillumined1826
unsunned1838
unlitten1867
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > [adjective]
dima1000
darkOE
troublea1327
palec1385
dullc1430
unclearc1440
unbright1534
cloudy1556
unlight1570
muddy1600
wan1601
opacous1616
filmy1642
illuminous1656
crepuscular1668
dumb1720
rayless1754
opaque1794
veilya1802
turbid1811
unlucent1819
ineffulgent1824
blear1830
unrefulgent1856
subluminous1860
subaqueous1875
shineless1882
OE Beowulf (2008) 1790 Nihthelm geswearc deorc ofer dryhtgumum.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxxiii. 15 Þu dæg settest and deorce niht, swylce þu gesettest sunnan and monan.
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) l. 3770 Forte hit were dorcke niþt.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) xvi. xvii. sig. Rvii Hit was soone derke soo that he myght knowe no man.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 275 The gate was closed, because it was at that time darke.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 61 They [sc. Birds] made divers turnes about the ship, a little before Sun-setting; and when it grew dark, they lighted upon the ribs of the ship.
1718 in G. Lamoine Charges to Grand Jury (1992) 105 There are divers People that make their Cellar-Stairs come so far into the Street, that Passengers in dark Evenings are in danger of falling in.
1875 J. C. Wilcocks Sea-fisherman (ed. 3) 190 They will bite when it is so pitchy dark that you cannot see to bait your hook.
1932 Derby Evening Tel. 1 Oct. The long, dark nights and wintry days will soon be upon us.
2017 Sun (Scotl. ed.) (Nexis) 2 Apr. (Opinion section) 55 It was getting dark by the time we ambled back to the hotel.
b. Of a room or other place: having little or no light; badly lit or unlit.
ΚΠ
OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxlii. 4 Hi me on digle deorce stowe settan sarlice.
c1200 (?OE) Grave (1890) l. 13 Dureleas is þet hus and dearc hit is wiðinnen.
c1300 St. Katherine (Laud) l. 182 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 97 Þo heo to þe prisone come..wounder heom þouȝte ȝwar-of were þe deorke stude so briȝt.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Hengwrt) (1872) l. 1139 Taak fyr and bere it in the derkeste hous Bitwix this and the mount of kaukasous.
1587 A. Fraunce tr. T. Watson Lament. Amyntas sig. Ev By the caues of beasts, by the dungeons darke, by the deserts, And by the hills, by the dales, by the wells and watery fountains.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 133 Worms that shun the Light, a dark Retreat Have found.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 198. ⁋10 The room was kept dark.
1859 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing ii. 16 People lose their health in a dark house.
1900 Canterbury Old & New 186 On the whole the beech forest is dark and gloomy, but here and there it may be lighted up by a tuft of scarlet or yellow native mistletoe.
1954 E. Huxley Four Guineas (1955) 148 In several of the little shops, weavers were at work in dark corners on their narrow looms.
2002 A. Phillips Prague iv. viii. 337 He led them to a short, dark hallway off the main corridor.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > imprison [verb (transitive)]
beclosec1000
setc1100
steekc1175
prison?c1225
adightc1275
imprison1297
laya1325
keepc1330
presentc1380
locka1400
throwc1422
commise1480
clapc1530
shop1548
to lay up1565
incarcerate1575
embar1590
immure1598
hole1608
trunk1608
to keep (a person) darka1616
carceir1630
enjaila1631
pocket1631
bridewell1733
bastille1745
cage1805
quod1819
bag1824
carcerate1839
to send down1840
jug1841
slough1848
to send up1852
to put away1859
warehouse1881
roundhouse1889
smug1896
to bang up1950
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. i. 96 Till then Ile keepe him darke and safely lockt. View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Fletcher Mad Lover i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Bv/2 Keep him darke, He will run March mad else.
a1652 R. Brome Queenes Exchange (1657) iv. sig. E4v/1 See, see, my Lord, how they have kept him dark, Manacl'd and bound on's bed?
2.
a. Of clouds, the sky, water, etc.: reflecting or transmitting little light; gloomy, sombre; murky; dull.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > darkness or gloom > [adjective] > specifically of the sky
darkOE
louringa1450
drumlya1522
loury1686
OE Judgement Day II 106 Eal bið eac upheofon sweart and gesworcen, swiðe geþuxsað, deorc and dimhiw, and dwolma sweart.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxviii. 14 Ado me of deope deorces wæteres, þe læs me besencen sealte flodas.
c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Laud) l. 365 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 441 Þat lodlokeste weder þat miȝhte beo..Swart and dreok [probably read deork] and grislich.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1020 Þe derk Dede See hit is demed evermore.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 119 A wedyr so dirk and so lowd þat men supposid þe cherch schuld falle.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 25v Tuning his owne priuate disconsolations to the darke gloomy ayre.
1658 T. Willsford Natures Secrets 100 Cloudy and dark weather.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 160. ¶8 Those dark Clouds which cover the Ocean.
1855 Harper's Mag. July 156/2 A glitter and a glare flashed over the dark waters.
1920 Poet Lore Spring 149 The landscape is alternately lit up with sunshine or draped in dark mists.
2018 Northern District Times (Austr.) (Nexis) 29 Aug. 5 It was a stormy evening and the Demetrious looked to anchor at a bay as the sky grew darker.
b. Of a lamp, flame, etc.: producing little light; dim. Also: unlit; extinguished.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > unilluminated or unilluminating > extinguished
darkOE
extinct?a1475
extinguished1552
extincteda1616
quenched1825
OE Ælfric Homily: Sermo ad Populum (Corpus Cambr. 188) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 442 Eaðelice mæg se ælmihtiga God belucan ða deofla on þam deorcan fyre, þæt hi ðæron cwylmion.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. x. v. 561 He [sc. flame] ȝeueþ dym and derke lyȝte.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (1877) §183 The derke light þat shal come out of the fyr..shal turne hym al to peyne þat is in helle.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 815 (MED) The owgly bakke wyl gladly fleen be nyght, Dirk cressetys and laumpys that been lyght.
1648 J. Sparrow tr. J. Böhme Descr. Three Princ. iii. 12 Those that shall have no oyle, their Lamps shall continue dark.
1649 Reason against Treason 5 Like a Citizen that vents his wares by darke lights.
1709 J. Edwards Preacher: Third Pt. 23 The Turks and Mahometans..use burning Lights in their Mosques all Night. We go not so far, but only set up dark Candles on our Altars.
1833 New Monthly Mag. 37 304 The fire was burning dead, the candles were dark with their large unsnuffed wicks.
1874 A. Trollope Harry Heathcote of Gangoil x. 253 He could see the dark light of the low running fire.
2004 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 2 Oct. (Final ed.) (Plant City section) 8 Just about everything was shut down Monday as power was off throughout the city. Most street lights were dark.
3.
a. Of an object, material, substance, etc.: having a colour which approaches black in shade; having a deep, intense colour or shade; not bright, light, or pale.See also dark-coloured adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > dark-coloured
darkeOE
blackeOE
browna1000
swartOE
wanOE
murka1325
darkish?c1425
duska1450
dusketly1486
sad?1504
duskish1530
base1539
dusky1558
swarthy1577
darksome1598
smutty1648
subfusc?1705
infuscated1727
murky1759
subfuscous1762
sable1791
sombrous1799
obfuscous1822
sombre1829
wine-dark1855
murkish1869
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 184 Furua uoracis, deorc.
OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 411 [Ut] caccabatum furvę fuliginis atramentum exhorruit : befyled deorces, nigre, sotes blæc of scoc, wiþsoc.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. xiii. 6 Ȝif more derkere were þe lepre, & not waxed in þe skyn..hit is a skab.
?1530 J. Rastell Pastyme of People sig. Ciiv It is not well possyble to haue so many gret stonis to be all of one color & of one greyn..but that some stone shuld be more darker of colour in one place or a nother.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 82 They gather a darke or blackish kind of cherry, and casting away the stalkes, put them into a great cauldron.
1795 J. Berkenhout Synopsis Nat. Hist. Great Brit. (ed. 3) I. 41 Ptarmigan, or White Game. In summer pale brown with dark spots.
1873 Act 36 & 37 Victoria c. 85 §3 Her name..shall be marked on her stern, on a dark ground in white or yellow letters.
1958 Hammond (Indiana) Times 20 Jan. 11/4 Ebony, the dark wood from which pianoforte keys are made.
2008 Argus (Sussex) 11 July 5/2 He was wearing a baseball cap, dark jacket and jogging bottoms.
b. Of colour, tint, shade, etc.: deep; intense. Frequently modifying adjectives and nouns denoting a specific colour (often prefixed, sometimes with hyphen), as in dark grey, dark red, etc.: deep in tone or shade.In quot. OE1 as first element in a compound translating a post-classical Latin form of classical Latin helvus dull yellow, dun. Cf. grey adj. 1b. See also the note in the etymology.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > relating to tone > dark
wana1000
swartOE
darkOE
under-dark1382
sad1415
swartish1483
sable?a1513
dark-coloured?1523
swarth?1527
fuskish1563
swarty1572
saturnine1581
sable-suiteda1592
sable visaged1608
gloomy1632
sable-vested1667
fuscous1671
umbratile1678
sable-hooded1770
gangrenous1794
burnt1897
bead-dark1937
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 102 Elbus, deorcegræg.
a1425 (a1382) Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Corpus Oxf.) (1850) Lev. xiii. 19 A fel wounde, whijt, or derk reed [L. subrosa].
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Ciii The rede darke, le vermeill.
1654 Mercurius Fumigosus No. 8. 82 A Shammee Doublet, and a pair of cloath hose dark gray.
1749 Philos. Trans. 1748 (Royal Soc.) 45 551 A dark-purple bituminous Substance.
1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire I. i. i. 235 The native sheep..are mostly white, but many are grey, some black, and a few of a peculiar dark buff colour.
1946 Community Canning Centers (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 62 Applesauce made with unpared apples will be of a darker color than that made from pared apples.
2012 Kenyon Rev. Summer 121 He was tall and potbellied, with black, springy hair and dark-brown eyes.
4. Astronomy. Of a celestial object: emitting or reflecting little or no visible light. In recent use also: postulated to consist of dark matter.dark moon, dark star: see the second element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > [adjective] > of luminous bodies
darklOE
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1106 Se steorra ætywde innon þet suðwest; he wæs litel geþuht and deorc, ac se leoma þe him fram stod wæs swiðe beorht.
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 1377 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 145 Þe sonne þat was erore so cler, deork heo is bi-come, brode cloude and strongue..hire liȝt habbeth bi-nome.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iv. met. v. l. 3803 How þe moene dirk and confuse discouereþ þe sterres that she had [emended in ed. to hadde] ycouered by hir clere visage.
1651 J. French Art Distillation vi. 177 That dark body..that is interposed betwixt the philosophicall Sunne and Moone, and keeps off the influencies of the one from the other.
1713 A. Collier Clavis Universalis i. i. §2. 33 Is the Moon..a Luminous Thing?.. No; but a Dark or Opacous Body.
1859 O. M. Mitchell Lect. Great Unfinished Probl. Universe 49 I had computed..the exact moment when the dark planet would touch the brilliant rim of the sun.
1989 N. Pollotta & P. Foglio Illegal Aliens x. 95 Secreted in dark asteroids throughout the galaxy were the Great Golden Ones' Planetbuster Bombs and Nova-grade lasers.
2011 Sci. Amer. Oct. 28/2 Our team inferred that an undiscovered possibly dark galaxy lurks in the plane of the Milky Way, about 300,000 light-years from the galactic center.
5. † a. Of a person, the skin, complexion, etc.: not having a healthy colour; sallow. Cf. bright adj. 8. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 1009 This lady called was Beaute..Ne she was derk ne broun but bright.
1652 N. Culpeper tr. Galen Art of Physick 60 Melancholly-chollerick complexion...They have but very little Hair on their Bodies, and are long without Beards,..the Face of a dark pale colour [etc.].
1729 N. Robinson New Syst. Spleen, Vapours, & Hypochondriack Melancholy ii. iii. 194 These Persons, that are..dispos'd to be affected with the Spleen..are generally observ'd of a meagre, hirsute Habit of Body, of a dark, pale, and wan Complexion.
b. Of a person's skin, hair, or eyes: brown or black in colour; not fair, light, or blonde.See also dark-complexioned adj., dark-eyed adj., dark-skinned adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > darkness > [adjective]
blackeOE
browned-black?c1510
dark?1537
black-faced1581
adust?1586
black-visaged1602
mulatto1622
kettle-faced1680
black-favoured1681
black-a-top1685
brown-complexioned1704
blackavised1721
brunette1724
brune1747
dark-skinned1750
black-looking1753
melanic1826
melanous1836
brunet1840
copper-skinned1873
brown-skinned1904
brown-
?1537 T. Elyot Castell of Helthe i. ii. f. 2v Hear blak or dark, aburn corlyd.
1692 W. Walsh Lett. & Poems 15 My Stature is somewhat above the ordinary;..my Hair light; my Eyes dark.
1784 J. King Cook's Voy. Pacific III. v. vii. 125 Their complexion is rather darker than that of the Otaheiteans.
1855 F. Douglass My Bondage & My Freedom (1984) xxiii. 360 For a time I was made to forget that my skin was dark and my hair crisped.
1952 New Biol. 12 16 As we travel southwards in Europe the genes for dark hair on the whole become commoner.
2007 New Yorker 24 Dec. 100/1 She was a bone-thin woman with a pretty face, dark eyes, and brown hair.
c. Of a person or ethnic group: having brown or black skin; not fair or light-skinned; (also) of or relating to such a person or group. Of a white person: having brown or black hair and often olive skin.
ΚΠ
1790 Mass. Mag. Jan. 29/2 We..pay the tribute of a tear to Africa's dark race.
1855 R. F. Burton Personal Narr. Pilgrimage to El-Medinah II. 280 The Meccans, a dark people, say of the Madani that their hearts are black and their skins are white.
1870 C. Dickens Edwin Drood ii. 6 Mr. Jasper is a dark man of some six-and-twenty.
1895 ‘G. Paston’ Study in Prejudices ii There is dark blood in us..; our great grandmother was a beautiful half caste.
1990 S. Williams Blood Hunter ix. 108 I forgot white boys don't know all the terminology brothers use. A light-skinned brother is bright. A dark boy like me is blue.
2018 D. Stone What's left Unsaid 58 I never thought we looked that alike personally, I'm blonde and she's dark.
II. Figurative and extended uses.
6. Lacking moral or spiritual goodness; evil, wicked; iniquitous; hateful.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > [adjective] > evil or dark
swartOE
darkOE
black1547
flasky1575
darksome1576
pitchy1612
sable1726
OE Christ & Satan 104 Feond seondon reðe, dimme and deorce.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) cviii. 14 Ne adilgode wesan deorce fyrene, þa his modur ær mane fremede.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 634 (MED) Semende of liht thei werke The dedes whiche are inward derke.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xix. l. 21 Alle derke deuelles aren adradde to heren it [sc. þe name of ihesus].
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. i. 169 My faire name..To darke dis[hon]ours vse thou shalt not haue. View more context for this quotation
1663 J. Spencer Disc. Prodigies (1665) 335 We shall find these consecrated weapons of infinite more force against the powers of the Dark Kingdom.
1715 E. Settle Rebellion Display'd 10 Meer Retrogrades from Sense, Souls so deprav'd, Wit, Reason, all to their dark Cause enslav'd.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 166 Associated in the public mind with the darkest and meanest vices.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. Prel. 9 Trying to expiate by justice and mercy the dark deeds of his bloodstained youth.
1982 A. Brinkley Voices of Protest Pref. p. xi The dark forces that have in this century produced fascism, Stalinism, and other terrors.
2019 N.E. Mississippi Daily Jrnl. (Tupelo, Mississippi) (Nexis) 26 Jan. (Lifestyle section) He wants to be sure his students understand the Holocaust, not as an isolated historical event, but as a manifestation of the dark side of human nature, present in all times.
7.
a. Of an era, a person's feelings or experiences, etc.: devoid of happiness, pleasure, or hope; unhappy; pessimistic; bleak.See also to look on the dark side at look v. Phrases 1a(c)(ii).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > gloomy or depressing
darkOE
unmerryOE
deathlyc1225
dolefulc1275
elengec1275
dreicha1300
coolc1350
cloudyc1374
sada1375
colda1400
deadlya1400
joylessc1400
unjoyful?c1400
disconsolatea1413
mournfula1425
funeralc1425
uncheerfulc1449
dolent1489
dolesome1533
heavy-hearted1555
glum1558
ungladsome1558
black1562
pleasureless1567
dern1570
plaintive?1570
glummish1573
cheerless1575
comfortless1576
wintry1579
glummy1580
funebral1581
discouraging1584
dernful?1591
murk1596
recomfortless1596
sullen1597
amating1600
lugubrious1601
dusky1602
sable1603
funebrial1604
damping1607
mortifying1611
tearful?1611
uncouth1611
dulsome1613
luctual1613
dismal1617
winterous1617
unked1620
mopish1621
godforsaken?1623
uncheerly1627
funebrious1630
lugubrous1632
drearisome1633
unheartsome1637
feral1641
drear1645
darksome1649
sadding1649
saddening1650
disheartening1654
funebrous1654
luctiferous1656
mestifical1656
tristifical1656
sooty1657
dreary1667
tenebrose1677
clouded1682
tragicala1700
funereal1707
gloomy1710
sepulchrala1711
dumpishc1717
bleaka1719
depressive1727
lugubre1727
muzzy1728
dispiriting1733
uncheery1760
unconsolatory1760
unjolly1764
Decemberly1765
sombre1768
uncouthie1768
depressing1772
unmirthful1782
sombrous1789
disanimating1791
Decemberish1793
grey1794
uncheering1796
ungenial1796
uncomforting1798
disencouraginga1806
stern1812
chilling1815
uncheered1817
dejecting1818
mopey1821
desponding1828
wisht1829
leadening1835
unsportful1837
demoralizing1840
Novemberish1840
frigid1844
morne1844
tragic1848
wet-blanketty1848
morgue1850
ungladdeneda1851
adusk1856
smileless1858
soul-sick1858
Novemberya1864
saturnine1863
down1873
lacklustre1883
Heaven-abandoneda1907
downbeat1952
doomy1967
OE Wanderer 89 Se þonne þisne wealsteal wise geþohte ond þis deornce [read deorce] lif deope geondþenceð.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxxxv. 6 Þonne me on dæge deorc earfoðe carelice cnyssedan, þonne ic cleopode to ðe.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 1307 By-twixen hope and derk desesperaunce.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. v. 36 More darke and darke our woes. View more context for this quotation
1636 P. Heylyn Hist. Sabbath ii. 141 Then the times were at the darkest.
1798 Methodist Mag. Jan. 18 In his darkest moments, a ray of hope..cheered his drooping spirit.
1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 12 So much of sympathy to borrow As soothed her own dark lot.
1996 Hope Mag. July 52/1 In the dark days immediately following my spinal cord injury.., my despair seemed bottomless.
2013 FourFourTwo Feb. 64/1 There's only ever really one certainty in management and that's that you're going to get sacked at some stage in your career. When it happens you're in a dark place.
b. Of a person's mood or character: gloomy, sad; sullen.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective]
ungladc888
wearyc888
drearyc1000
dreary-moodOE
heavyc1000
unmerryOE
droopy?c1225
mournc1275
sada1300
languishinga1325
amayedc1330
matec1330
unlightc1330
unblissful1340
lowa1382
mishappyc1390
dullc1393
elengely1393
droopinga1400
heavy-hearteda1400
joylessa1400
sytefula1400
mornifc1400
tristy?c1400
lightless?1406
heartlessa1413
tristc1420
amatec1425
languoring?c1425
mirthlessc1430
heavisome1435
darkc1440
gloomingc1440
comfortlessc1460
amateda1470
chermatc1475
tristfula1492
lustless?1507
dolorous1513
ruthful1513
downcast1521
deject1528
heartsicka1529
lumpisha1535
coolc1540
dowlyc1540
glum1547
discouraged1548
uncheerfulc1555
dumpish1560
out of heart1565
sadded1566
amoped1573
tristive1578
desolated1580
dejected1581
à la mort1586
delightless1589
afflicted1590
gladless1590
groanful1590
gloomya1593
muddy1592
sitheful1592
cloudy1594
leaden-hearted1596
disconsolated1598
clum1599
life-weary1599
spiritless1600
dusky1602
chop-fallen1604
flat1604
disanimated1605
jaw-fallen1605
moped1606
chap-fallen1608
decheerful1608
uncheerful1612
lacklustrea1616
pulled1616
dumpya1618
depressed1621
head-hung1632
grum1640
downa1644
dispirited1647
down-at-mouth1649
down in (rarely of) the mouth1649
unhearted1650
sunlessa1658
sadful1658
unlightened1659
chagrin1665
saddened1665
damp1667
moping1674
desponding1688
tristitious1694
unenjoying1697
unraised1697
unheartya1699
unked1698
despondent1699
dismal1705
unjoyful1709
unrejoiced1714
dreara1717
disheartened1720
mumpish1721
unrejoicing1726
downhearted1742
out of spirits1745
chagrineda1754
low-spirited1753
sombrea1767
black-blooded1771
glumpy1780
oorie1787
sombrous1789
morose1791
Novemberish1793
glumpish1800
mopeful1800
die-away1802
blue-devilish1804
blue-devilled1807
malagrugrous1818
down in the hip1826
yonderly1828
sunshineless1831
downfaced1832
broody1851
in a (or the) trough1856
blue-devilly1871
drooped1873
glummy1884
pippy1886
humpy1889
pipped1914
lousy1933
pissed1943
crappy1956
doomy1961
bummed1970
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > [adjective]
melancholiousa1393
melancholica1398
darkc1440
adustc1460
melancholyc1475
as melancholy as a cat1592
allichollya1616
fuliginous1646
atrabilious1651
atrabilary1676
atrabilarian1678
hipped1712
splenetic1759
atrabiliarious1761
melancholish1775
atrabiliar1833
atrabiliary1839
atrabilarious1882
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill humour > [adjective]
moodyc1300
distemprec1374
melancholiana1393
solein1399
darkc1440
gloomingc1440
girning1447
melancholyc1450
tetrical1528
tetric1533
distemperate1548
morose1565
sullen1570
stunt1581
humorous1590
gloomya1593
muddy1592
clum1599
dortya1605
humoursome1607
distempereda1616
musty1620
grum1640
agelastic1666
fusty1668
purdy1668
ill-humoured1693
gurly1721
mumpish1721
sunking1724
tetricous1727
sumphish1728
stunkard1737
sulky1744
muggard1746
farouche1765
sombrea1767
glumpy1780
glumpish1800
tiffy1810
splenitive1815
stuffy1825
liverish1828
troglodytish1866
glummy1884
humpy1889
scowly1951
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > [adjective] > saturnine
darkc1440
saturninea1450
Saturnlike1569
Saturnical?1574
Saturnian1583
saturnious1591
saturnic1820
c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 86 (MED) When þe day es derke, manes wittis are derke & dulle & heuy.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice v. i. 87 The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections darke as Terebus.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 516 Men of dark Tempers.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. ix. x. 532 Ah, ah, you are in low spirits, I see. We must dissipate that dark humour.
1907 W. F. Kirby tr. Kalevala II. xxxiv. 101 All his heart was dark with sorrow.
2017 A. Cameron Cinico xi. 143 I took the train back to Edinburgh in a dark mood.
c. Of the face, eyes, etc.: expressing negative emotion, esp. anger or dislike; sullen; frowning.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > of the appearance or face
louring13..
sada1375
frowningc1386
fluishc1460
Lentena1500
glumming1526
Friday-faced1583
becloudeda1586
gash1589
dark1593
mumping1594
hanging1607
fiddle-facedc1785
murky1830
unsunned1838
thought-ladena1847
unsunny1859
unhappy-looking1863
unhappy-faced1876
boot-faced1958
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill humour > expression of ill humour > [adjective] > frowning or scowling
louring13..
felonc1374
frowningc1386
glumming1526
glum1547
scowling1552
dark1593
frowned1598
black1604
glouting1641
frownful1771
black-browed1792
brow-bent1796
frownya1861
afrown1869
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Biiijv Adonis..with a heauie, darke, disliking eye..cries, fie, no more of loue. View more context for this quotation
1790 A. W. Radcliffe Sicilian Romance II. xiv.171 His countenance was dark and sullen, and I perceived that he trembled.
1821 P. B. Shelley Epipsychidion 9 Art thou not..A smile amid dark frowns?
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. iii. 34 The brow of the young man grew dark.
1996 Times (Nexis) 14 June She specialised in defiant, unsentimental types, who could easily outbrazen the dark looks of their church-going neighbours.
2014 Western Mail (Cardiff) 29 Sept. Features section) 28 Dai's face was dark with fury.
d. Of comedy, humour, creative works, etc.: dealing with disturbing or shocking subject matter, esp. in an ironic way. [Perhaps partly after light adj.1 31, by association with light adj.2]
ΚΠ
1928 Derby Daily Tel. 9 Oct. (Final ed.) 8/4 The irrepressible Bobby Vernon is concerned in a ‘very dark’ comedy.
1971 Stud. in Romanticism 10 227 The butcherous doctor, after the dark humor has been stripped away, stands in the same menacing relation to his patient as Jackson to Redburn.
1981 Associated Press (Nexis) 18 Nov. A very dark satire, a savage film in which all kinds of groups in America are satirized in extreme ways.
2018 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 25 Mar. 14 ‘Ah yes, the artwork is a bit dark isn't it?’ said Slavomir as I took in the writhing saturnalia of headless women and naked limbs.
8. † b. Having little fame or renown; not highly regarded; obscure. Obsolete.† c. Unclear or indistinct in the mind or memory; indiscernible; unknowable. Obsolete.
a. Of a text, subject, author, etc.: difficult to understand; obscure or unclear in meaning. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > [adjective]
higheOE
dighela1000
deepc1000
darkOE
starkOE
dusk?c1225
subtle1340
dimc1350
subtilea1393
covert1393
mystica1398
murka1400
cloudyc1400
hard?c1400
mistyc1400
unclearc1400
diffuse1430
abstractc1450
diffused?1456
exquisitec1460
obnubilous?a1475
obscure?a1475
covered1484
intricate?a1500
nice?a1500
perplexeda1500
difficilea1513
difficult1530
privy1532
smoky1533
secret1535
abstruse?1549
difficul1552
entangled1561
confounded1572
darksome1574
obnubilate1575
enigmatical1576
confuse1577
mysteriousa1586
Delphic1598
obfuscatea1600
enfumed1601
Delphicala1603
obstruse1604
abstracted1605
confused1611
questionable1611
inevident1614
recondite1619
cryptic1620
obfuscated1620
transcendent1624
Delphian1625
oraculous1625
enigmatic1628
recluse1629
abdite1635
undilucidated1635
clouded1641
benighted1647
oblite1650
researched1653
obnubilated1658
obscurative1664
tenebrose1677
hyperbyssal1691
condite1695
diffusive1709
profound1710
tenebricose1730
oracular1749
opaque1761
unenlightening1768
darkling1795
offuscating1798
unrecognizable1817
tough1820
abstrusive1848
obscurant1878
out-of-focus1891
unplumbable1895
inenubilable1903
non-transparent1939
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > obscurity > [adjective]
darkOE
murka1400
cloudyc1400
mistyc1400
unclearc1400
obturate?a1425
obscure?a1439
unplain?c1535
obumbilatec1540
abstruse?1549
darksome1574
mysteriousa1586
obstruse1604
muddy1611
unperspicuous1634
clouded1641
imperspicuous1654
cramp1674
unlucid1711
abstract1725
opaque1761
obumbratory1799
darkling1813
sludgy1901
OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) lxxxi. 423 Quod enim obscurum est aut dubium conferendo cito perspicietur : þæt soþlice deorc ys oþþe twynol tobringende raþe byþ besceawud.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Job xiii. 17 Hereþ my woord & þe derke speches [L. ænigmata] parceyueþ with ȝoure eris.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 105 Men..ben blyndid bi derke speche.
1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §48. m. 29 Which acte..is so obscure, derke and diffuse that the true entent of the makers therof cannot perfitely be undrestond.
1559 C. Scot in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1725) I. App. x. 30 This Matter is..darke and of great Difficultie to be so playnlye discussed, as that the Truthe may manyfestly appeare.
1687 R. L'Estrange Answer to Let. to Dissenter 44 He's a little Dark in this Paragraph; but the Change of One Word will make him as Clear as Chrystal.
1693 J. Dryden in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires Ded. p. xxxi He is so obscure, that he has got himself the Name of Scotinus, a dark Writer.
1866 Duke of Argyll Reign of Law vi. 325 These may seem far-fetched illustrations, and of slight value in so dark a subject.
1904 Proc. Soc. Psychical Res. 1903–4 18 54 However surely the evidence be established, it is still so dark in interpretation that every one will read in it that which he most wants to read.
2017 H. J. Helle China: Promise or Threat? vii. 74 There are countless translations of the Tao-te ching. They differ in many details because the ancient Chinese original text is often dark in its meaning and shares its ambiguity with most ancient texts of other cultures.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [adjective] > not known to many > lacking repute
unfamousc1384
dark?c1400
recondite1722
renownless1821
no-name1979
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iii. pr. ix. l. 306 What demest þou..is þat a dirke þing and nat noble þat is suffisaunt reuerent and myȝty.
1551 W. Turner New Herball Prol. sig. A iij I..darker in name, and farr vnder these men in knowledge.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1221/1 She hath made hir councell of poore, darke, beggerlie fellows.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adjective] > obscure, vague
cloudyc1400
indeterminatec1400
diffuse1430
diffused?1456
obscure?a1475
infinite1520
ambiguous1529
indistincta1530
nubilous1533
dark1557
undetermined1588
undefinite1589
undeterminate1603
indetermined1611
undefined1611
suspense1624
umbrageous1635
clouded1641
undeterminated1641
fuliginous1646
implicit1660
vague1690
diffusive1709
nubilose1730
foggy1737
unliquidated1780
hazy1781
indecisive1815
nebulous1817
penumbral1819
aoristic1846
scumbled1868
nubiform1873
out-of-focus1891
fuzzy1937
soft focus1938
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes (new ed.) f. 116v Those same Deuine Camenes..Do cherish'him deceast, and set him free, From dark obliuion of deuouring death.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Eiijv If thou destroy them not in darke obscuritie. View more context for this quotation
1782 W. Cowper On observing Names Little Note in Poems 315 Names ignoble, born to be forgot..And dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 97 The verge of dark eternity.
d. Phonetics. (a) designating a vowel sound produced with the front of the tongue lowered and the back raised towards the soft palate (rare); (b) designating a speech sound, esp. /l/, produced either with the back of the tongue raised towards the soft palate (velarization n.), or with constriction in the pharynx (pharyngealization n.), such as, in most accents of English, when the sound occurs at the end of a word, before another consonant, or as a syllabic sound, e.g. in full, bulk, or bottle; opposed to clear adj. 13b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by place or organ > [adjective] > velar
velar1876
dark1882
labiovelar1894
velarized1915
post-velar1934
velaric1934
1882 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 1881 12 88 Mutes and nasals agree in their tendency to lower light vowels, to raise dark vowels, and to blunt the articulation of the extreme vowels at either end of the scale.
1899 W. Rippmann tr. W. Vietor Elem. Phonetics 42 When the tongue is raised a little further back we obtain lower, darker sounds..; when it is raised a little further forward we obtain higher, clearer sounds.
1918 D. Jones Outl. Eng. Phonetics ix. 45 In clear varieties of l the front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate, while in dark varieties of l the back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate. In other words, clear l-sounds have the resonance of front vowels, whereas dark l-sounds have the resonance of back vowels.
1942 Amer. Speech 17 Suppl. 27 [α] seems often to be a somewhat ‘darker’ or more retracted sound than the normal American variety.
1958 A. Cartianu et al. Course Mod. Rumanian 22 English dark l in words like: middle, tell, almost does not exist in Rumanian.
2013 Jrnl. Internat. Phonetic Assoc. 43 3 Dark /l/ may be articulated further forward than the other alveolars in English and than clear /l/ in French.
9. Partially or totally blind; unable to see; sightless; (of the eyesight) failed; dimmed. regional in later use.In quot. OE in figurative context, with connotations of sense 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [adjective] > having dimness or poor vision
darkOE
dima1220
bissona1250
murka1300
mistedc1450
obfuscatec1487
spurblind1508
sand-blind1538
dim-sighted1561
blinking1568
dimmed1590
weak-sighteda1591
purblind1592
sand-eyed1592
thick-eyed1598
left-eyed1609
mole-eyed1610
blindish1611
mole-sighted1625
sanded1629
veiled1633
weak-eyed1645
scotomatical1656
mole-blinda1660
swimming1697
wavering1842
foggy1847
scotomatous1866
clouding1868
wall-eyed1873
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [adjective] > blind
star-blindeOE
bissonc950
blind-bornc975
blindc1000
darkOE
purblinda1325
sightlessa1325
start blinda1387
stark blinda1425
stone-blindc1480
beetle-blind1556
beetle1566
eyeless?1570
purblinded1572
high-gravel-blind1600
not-seeing?1602
kind-blind1608
bat-blind1609
unseeing1609
blindful1621
winking-eyed1621
lamplessa1625
deocular1632
lightless1638
bat-eyed1656
stock-blind1675
duncha1692
gazelessa1819
visionlessa1821
blind-eyed1887
stone-eyed1890
unsighted1983
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 34 Gif þin eage bið hluttor ðonne bið eall þin lichama beorht; gif hit byð deorc, eall þin lichama byð þystre.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xlviii. 10 Þe eyȝen forsoþ of yrael wern derk for grete elde: And clerly: he miȝte not see.
c1450 (?a1300) Stations of Rome (Calig.) l. 321 I may se now, þat ere was derke.
1576 A. Fleming tr. C. Plinius Novocomensis in Panoplie Epist. 242 So farre foorth as my dimme and darke eyesight is able to pearce into the view of his vertues.
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 1098 Some there are, that cure dark sights by reason of a Cataract.
1769 Ann. Reg. 1768 203/1 Mr. Bathom has been totally dark for seven years.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 152 His other eye was nearly quite dark.
1875 Lanc. Gloss. Dark, blind. ‘Help him o'er th' road, poor lad, he's dark.’
1907 J. M. Synge Aran Islands i. 12 I don't know if I'm better than the way he is; he's got his sight and I'm only an old dark man.
1956 in F. G. Cassidy & R. B. LePage Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1980) 143/1 Mi gyetin uol—kyaan sii gud—ai daark. I'm getting old—can't see well—eyes are failing.
1967 B. MacMahon Honey Spike in B. Share Slanguage (1997) 69/1 ‘I'm dark,’ the old man quavered. ‘We'll give you six young eyes.’ ‘I'm as dark as midnight,’ the old man said.
10. Intellectually or spiritually unenlightened; lacking knowledge, ignorant; uninformed. Now rare.See also dark ages n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > intellectual ignorance > [adjective]
thestera900
thestria900
blindc1000
darkc1350
lightless?1406
obscurea1500
mistya1522
blinded1535
unilluminated1579
unlightened1587
stone-blind1596
endarkened1612
dark1628
benighted1637
unenlightened1650
bedarkened1655
unirradiated1792
darkened1856
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > inspiration or revelation > [adjective] > not
darkc1350
mistya1522
natural1526
endarkened1612
benighted1637
uninspired1700
unirradiated1792
darkened1856
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 48 Ich [a]m þat lyȝt Of alle þer wordle..Wo-so lokeþ, ne geþ he nauȝt derk, Ac lyȝt.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iii. pr. ii. l. 1818 Of whiche men þe corage alwey..seekeþ þe souereyne goode of alle be it so þat it be wiþ a derke memorie.
1521 in H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge 1st balade sig. s.iiv To be examined by my rudenes all derke.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 22 What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support. View more context for this quotation
1668 J. Denham Poems & Transl. 175 The age wherein he liv'd, was dark.
1774 J. W. Fletcher Hist. Ess. in First Pt. Equal Check 16 If you oppose his principles..he supposes that you are ‘quite dark’.
1837 J. H. Newman Lect. Prophetical Office Church 184 Anglican divines will consider him still dark on certain other points of Scripture doctrine.
1995 L. Todd Healer's Journey into Light (2002) 119 In the dark period of the middle ages most of this information was lost.
11.
a. Hidden from view or knowledge; concealed; kept secret. Frequently in to keep (something) dark: to keep (something) concealed; to keep secret.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective]
dernc897
dighela1000
hid?c1225
stillc1275
stillyc1275
covertc1303
secrec1374
secret1399
secretivec1470
covered1484
dark1532
underhid1532
hiddena1547
concealed1558
abstruse1576
unshewing1598
mystical1600
of secreta1616
mystica1625
subterraneous1652
researched1653
hugger-mugger1692
hidlingsa1810
sub rosa1824
cachet1837
cloak and dagger1841
theftuous1881
q.t.1910
closet1966
down-low1991
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective]
secrec1386
mystica1398
mystical1516
dark1532
arcane1547
occulta1549
shadowish1561
abstruse1576
cryptical1588
shrouded (also involved, wrapped) in mysterya1616
mysterious1622
mysterial1630
cryptica1638
researched1653
rarefied1662
arcanalc1828
sphinx-like1837
sphinxine1845
abstrusive1848
Sphingine1925
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [adjective] > hidden
dighela1000
dernc1000
wriena1250
privyc1300
unshewedc1386
wrapped1398
quatc1425
tectc1440
blinda1522
coucheda1522
dark1532
lurkingc1540
velated1542
hiddena1547
inclusive1554
concealed1558
secret1559
occult1567
disguised1594
occulted1598
derned1600
shrouded1600
latent1605
abstrused1608
supposed1608
unshown1614
enshielda1616
retruse1623
dissembled1631
researched1636
recondite1649
delitescent1653
larved1654
tected1657
bedilt1660
bosomed1667
inhidden1674
underground1677
abditive1727
secreted1756
unextruded1808
unprotruded1812
undisplayed1822
larvated1832
dissimulated1838
latescent1852
squat1956
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > keep quiet about [phrase]
to keep or hold (a matter) counsel (later in counsela1400
to keep secret1399
to keep (something) dark1532
to draw a veil over1582
not to tell one's shirt1586
to keep one's (own) counsel1604
to put (also keep) in one's pocketa1616
to name no names1692
to make a secret of1738
to keep (‥) snug1778
to clap, put, or keep the thumb on1825
to wash one's dirty linen at home, in public1867
to hold back1956
to sweep (also brush, kick, etc.) (something) under the rug1956
to get it off one's chest1961
to sweep (or push) (something) under the carpet1963
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > [adjective] > obscure
cestreda1300
dimc1350
obfuscatec1487
dark1532
veiled1586
offuscate1603
shadowed1630
uncheckable1742
Nacht und Nebel1947
1532 tr. G. van der Goude Interpretacyon & Sygnyfycacyon Masse iii. Prol. sig. r.iv To be drawen to heuenly thynges, to know that thynge that god hath hydde and kepte darke[Du. heeft verborgen], to dye wysely, & to lyue euerlastyngly with god.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear i. 37 We will expresse our darker purposes..know we haue diuided In three, our kingdome. View more context for this quotation
1681 J. Crowne Henry VI i. ii. 14 By your Passions I read all your Natures, Though you at other times can keep e'm dark.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations III. xi. 176 He hid himself..kept himself dark.
1980 M. B. Fryer King's Men v. 91 He cautioned Johnson to keep his plans dark until nearer the time of departure.
2018 Goop Fall 30 (heading) There is a place so quiet, so protected, so guarded, that we trust it with our darkest secrets... This place, dear reader, is the back of our underwear drawer.
b. Of a person: secretive; inclined to conceal feelings or intentions; silent or reticent about a particular thing; not open. to keep dark about (something): to keep something secret.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > disposed to secrecy, secretive
dernOE
covert1340
secrec1385
secretc1440
mum1532
closec1540
whist1577
as silent as the grave1613
privatea1625
dark1650
uncommunicating1650
dry1681
uncommunicative1691
unexpansive1847
secretive1853
tight-lipped1876
cagey1909
zip-lipped1943
closet1948
coy1961
tight1977
1650 I. Penington Voyce out of Thick Darkness 45 The vileness of her present state soon..causes him to withdraw again. And so the husband likewise is at present in such an unlovely state, so dark, so hidden..that the Spirit of the Spouse too turns from her Husband.
1675 T. Otway Alcibiades ii. i. 15 But use such secresy as stoln Loves should have, Be dark as the hush't silence of the Grave.
1706 J. Logan in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1872) X. 145 He is exceedingly dark and hidden, and thoughts work in his mind deeply without communicating.
1738 A. Pope One Thousand Seven Hundred & Thirty Eight Dialogue II 10 And Lyttelton a dark, designing Knave.
1885 Cent. Mag. 30 380/2 Of course, I'll keep as dark about it as possible.
1994 M. J. Staples Missing Person ix. 121 It was all very well to keep dark about not being married, but that skeleton in his cupboard would come to light one day.
12. Designating a person about whom little is known; mysterious. Now only in dark horse (see dark horse n.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [adjective]
uncouthc897
neweOE
fremdc950
unknownOE
unseena1200
unketha1275
unkedc1275
strange13..
disguisyc1330
unknowedc1380
aliena1382
unhearda1382
unkenneda1400
ranishc1400
ignorant?a1475
unwittenc1485
unbekend1513
unacquainted1551
unkent1579
unwitted1582
unfamiliar1593
unsounded1594
incognite1609
ignote1623
in the urn1658
unfathomed1659
unexperienced1698
unknown-of1700
undiscovered1707
inaudite1708
darka1727
unascertained1751
unwist1757
unknownst1805
unbeknown1824
unbeknownst1848
unsampled1890
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [adjective] > not known to many
unrife1599
darka1727
little-known1734
best-kept1754
a1727 W. Wotton Disc. Confusion Babel (1730) 3 The Geographer labours to ascertain the Situation and Bounds of a City or Countrey, named two or three Times in some dark Author..and when he has done it, how few care whether there was ever such a City, or such an Author?
1860 Sat. Rev. 9 593/1 A Headship..often given by the College conclaves to a man who has judiciously kept himself dark.
1865 Sketches from Cambr. 36 A man may choose to run dark, and may astonish his friends in the final contest of the mathematical tripos.
1885 A. Beresford-Hope in Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Mar. 10/1 Two millions of dark men..whose ignorance and stupidity could hardly be grasped.
1998 J. Holms Bad Vibes xv. 180 Encountering her pal Bremner..would not have surprised Fizz..—not because of anything he said or did but because he was such a dark horse.
13. Designating a place considered remote, inaccessible, and uncivilized. Frequently in the Dark Continent: (a name given to) Africa (now sometimes offensive). Later chiefly in superlative, originally as an epithet for Africa, and hence applied to other places (humorous or ironic in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Africa > [noun]
the Dark Continent1826
the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adjective] > remote or inaccessible > most remote
dark1826
1826 Eng. Gentleman 3 Dec. 388/3 Has it civilized Africa—suppressed the slave trade—tended to spread the blessings of Christianity, in any part of that dark Continent? Alas! no!
1878 H. M. Stanley (title) Through the dark continent.
1890 H. M. Stanley (title) Through Darkest Africa.
1891 W. Booth (title) In Darkest England, and the way out.
1959 G. D. Painter Marcel Proust I. xii. 206 The beautiful Marie Nordlinger..had arrived from darkest Manchester to study painting and sculpture in Paris.
1998 B. Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible (1999) vi. 511 I've walked off more marriages and close calls than you can shake a stick at, but never got out of the Dark Continent.
2017 Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Nexis) 11 May (National ed.) 51 When I was younger, maybe 17 or 18, I found myself working with a demolition crew in deepest, darkest Rochdale.
14. Of a theatre or cinema: closed; not in use.See also to go dark at Phrases 4a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > [adjective] > closed
dark1889
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > film show > a cinema > [adjective] > closed
dark1889
1889 Sunday Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 3 Feb. 3/3 The Standard theater will be dark during a portion of the present week, commencing tomorrow.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 30 Oct. 13/3 Last night the picture show was ‘dark’, and most of those people with families were spending the evening at home.
1953 Economist 28 Mar. 853/2 It could happen that as many as one-fifth of all the seats in the London theatres were not even on sale, because the theatres were dark.
2007 G. Strobl Swastika & Stage ix. 197 During the Great Depression these so-called ‘theatre holidays’ grew longer and longer until many German and Austrian theatres were dark for often as much as six months in a year.
Phrases
P1. Proverb. the darkest hour is just before the dawn and variants: used to express or encourage an attitude of hope or resilience in the face of adversity, with the idea that when things seem to be at their worst, they are about to start improving.
ΚΠ
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. ii. 229 Thus, as it is always darkest just before the Day dawneth, so God useth to visite his servants with greatest afflictions, when he intendeth their speedy advancement.
1760 N. Blakie Lazarus Redivivus (ed. 2) 4 The work grows worse, their bondage becomes heavier than before: and truly it is ordinary that it is darkest before day break.
1849 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 26 Apr. It is always darkest before the dawn, we believe the pressure has reached its culminating point.
1913 Internat. Bookbinder Mar. 129/2 Conditions will be worse before they are better. The darkest hour is just before dawn.
1971 V. Canning Queen's Pawn ii. 32 It was such an unhappy face that she had to laugh at herself. Whoah, Belle. Always darkest before the dawn.
2017 Financial Times 4 Nov. 10 The darkest hour is just before the dawn. Theresa May must hope that the adage holds true, but there is no guarantee after another dire week in British politics.
P2.
dark night of the soul n. a period of spiritual desolation suffered by a mystic in which all sense of consolation is lost. Later, in extended use: a period of self-questioning. Also in elliptical use as dark night. [After Spanish la fe es noche oscura para el alma ‘faith is a dark night for the soul’, and similar statements in commentaries (c1578, a1583) by St John of the Cross on his own poetic text (c1578), which has the shorter expression noche oscura dark night. Compare quot. 1864, which translates the later version of the commentary.]
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society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > unspirituality > [noun] > period of
dark night of the soul1749
1749 Let. conc. Mr. Marsay in tr. Marquis de Marsay Disc. Subj. Spiritual Life 14 The Doctrine of obscure Faith, or (as John of the Cross calls it) the dark Night of the Soul, was hardly known then.
1864 D. Lewis tr. St. John of the Cross Wks. I. 3 The dark night, through which the soul passes, on its way to the Divine Light [Sp. esta noche oscura por la cual pasa el alma para llegar a la divina luz].
1981 Newsweek (Nexis) 30 Mar. (Ideas section) 78 America's liberals have been preparing for a dark night of the soul—or at least a gloomy four years.
2007 M. Sluhovsky Believe not Every Spirit v. 161 In 1654 Surin awoke from his dark night. He dictated books, preached, and renewed his spiritual direction.
2018 Guardian (Nexis) 17 Dec. (Australia News section) Stone has said there were ‘some really dark nights of the soul’ before her decision to speak publicly about alleged inappropriate behaviour.
P3.
dark and bloody ground n. U.S. (a name for) the state of Kentucky (or, in early use, regions previously denoted by this name), regarded as a place of violent conflict; (hence) a situation, area of activity, etc., which is a source of bitter discord or contention.Quot. 1777 makes reference to the apparent origin of the phrase, in words reportedly spoken by Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe.
ΚΠ
1777 Cal. Virginia St. Papers I. 283 When the said Henderson & Co., proposed purchasing the lands below the Kentucky, the Dragging Canoe told them it was the bloody Ground, and would be dark, and difficult to settle it.]
1784 J. Filson Discov., Settlement & Present State Kentucke 8 The fertile region, now called Kentucky, then but known to the Indians, by the name of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and sometimes the Middle Ground.
1899 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 14 July 4/2 His election will be accomplished by scenes of mob violence frightful even for the dark and bloody ground of Kentucky politics.
1978 W. Dykeman Battle of Kings Mountain 1780: With Fire & Sword (e-book ed.) They were pushing back frontiers, opening the dark and bloody ground of Kentucky.
1988 St Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 18 Sept. (City ed.) 2 d The intersection of science and public policy is a dark and bloody ground of contention.
2010 CNN (transcript of TV programme) (Nexis) 10 Oct. Race is a dark and bloody ground throughout American history.
P4. to go dark.
a. To pause in or cease operation or activity. Originally with reference to theatres (cf. sense 14), later applied to any business.
ΚΠ
1915 Sunday State Jrnl. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 12 Sept. b 8/1 ‘Hands Up’..kept the Forty-fourth Street theater open during the summer, and Louis Mann in ‘The Bubble’ kept the Booth theater from going dark.
1978 N.Y. Times 29 May d6/1 (headline) A chandelier shop soon will go dark.
1999 Stage 30 Sept. 6/4 A spokeswoman for the King's Theatre said that the venue would go dark for a week because there was not enough time to bring in another show.
2001 U.S. News & World Rep. 2 July 42/1 When Steeplechase, the last of its great amusement parks, went dark in 1964, Coney's reign as king of playlands ended.
2018 East Bay (Calif.) Times (Nexis) 25 Apr. The sandwich purveyor is planning to shut about 500 more of its U.S. shops. Last year, more than 800 stores went dark.
b. Of a person: to cease to be in communication. Also (occasionally) of a television channel, website, or other media outlet: to stop broadcasting; to go offline.
ΚΠ
2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 June i. 10/3 Mr. bin Laden, as intelligence analysts put it, has ‘gone dark’. Intelligence agencies have heard nothing from him for six months.
2007 J. Armstrong et al. Thick of It: Scripts Special 2. 320 He's gone dark, he's not answering his phone.
2018 Variety (Nexis) 12 Apr. Viacom channels..went dark on Suddenlink from 2014 to 2017.
P5.
Dark and Stormy n. (also Dark 'n' Stormy, Dark 'n Stormy, and with lower-case initials) a cocktail made with dark rum and ginger beer poured over ice, and usually garnished with a slice of lime.In form Dark 'n Stormy a proprietary name.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > cocktail > [noun] > rum cocktail
bumbo1701
rum cocktail1841
silky1852
planter's punch1878
Cuba libre1898
daiquiri1920
piña colada1920
presidente1928
mojito1934
zombie1938
mai tai?c1950
Dark and Stormy1983
1983 Times 11 May 10/3 The drink..consists of a measure of dark Bermudian rum in a tall glass, topped up with ginger beer and ice. It is called—for reasons which remain obscure—Dark and Stormy.
1999 Hamilton (Ont.) Spectator (Nexis) 27 Feb. t1 Every time you order a Dark 'n' Stormy at a different pub, the waiter stamps the card.
2007 R. Tobias in A. F. Smith Oxf. Compan. Amer. Food & Drink 259/2 The rum-based dark and stormy..traditionally is made with alcoholic ginger beer.
2015 Details June 40/2 Phillips evens it out with pineapple juice, peach liqueur, and ginger beer for an effervescent, rum-free riff on the Dark and Stormy.
Compounds
C1.
a. Forming adjectives with the sense ‘having (a) dark-coloured ——’, by combining with a past participle, as in dark-faced, dark-leaved, dark-veined, etc.Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately.
ΚΠ
1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde xxi. f. 90 Mercuries Tubercle, appeared obscure or darke shadowed.
1637 J. Milton Comus 5 Goddesse of Nocturnall sport Dark-vaild Cotytto.
1742 G. Leoni Notes I. Jones in N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture (ed. 3) II. iv. 50/1 Light-vein'd Marble..dark-vein'd, ditto.
1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain ii. xxvii. 99 Slow the dark fringed eye-lids fall.
1870 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Iliad I. ii. 61 Forty dark-hulled Locrian Barks.
1906 Daily Chron. 30 July 6/6 Another dark-visaged countryman of Reid, a typical specimen of the black Celt.
1919 W. A. Burns Pract. Sheep Husbandry i. 13 They are a dark faced sheep, the wool coming well down over face and legs.
2009 Nature of Scotl. Winter 44/1 Mountain willows (woolly, downy and dark-leaved willows) are highly endangered in the UK.
b. Modifying participles and verbs, with the sense ‘in darkness’, as in dark-shut, dark-closed, etc. literary or poetic.
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1594 S. Daniel Cleopatra iii. ii, in Delia (new ed.) sig. L2v Thou [sc. Nemesis] from dark-clos'd eternitie, From thy black clowdy hidden seate, The worlds disorders doost discry.
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 23 Our Freedom chain'd; quite wingless our Desire; In Sense dark-prison'd All that ought to soar.
1899 H. N. Dodge Christus Victor 98 If man can find a way to reach the dark Imprisoned mind, when every sense is dead (Deaf ears and sightless eyes, nor any speech).
1912 W. de la Mare Listeners 27 Laid in their dark-shut graves.
1977 P. Scupham Hinterland 28 The ways To washstand, jug and basin are dark shut.
c. Modifying adjectives and participles, with the sense ‘in a dark way; darkly’, as in dark-shining, dark-splendid, dark-thinking, etc.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) i. ii. 99 Darke working Sorcerers. View more context for this quotation
1744 J. Thomson Winter in Seasons (new ed.) 226 Sables, of glossy Black; and dark-embrown'd.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. lix. 37 Match me those Houries,..With Spain's dark-glancing daughters.
1853 W. J. Hickie tr. Aristophanes Comedies II. 603 Oh, dark-shining dusk of Night.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Lancelot & Elaine 337 in Idylls of King The face before her lived, Dark-splendid.
1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill vii. 221 Immersed in the dark-flowing canal.
1980 W. M. Spackman Presence with Secrets (1982) ii. 60 A beautiful dark-gleaming Hepplewhite dining table and shield-back chairs.
2010 New Yorker 22 Nov. 70/3 Never quite up to her own exalted standards, she is often frustrated, dark-thinking, on edge.
d. Forming adjectives with the sense ‘having a sombre, gloomy, or macabre ——’, by combining with a past participle, as in dark-humoured, dark-minded, dark-tempered, etc.See also dark-hearted adj. 1a.
ΚΠ
a1635 R. Sibbes Riches Mercie (1638) ii. 131 Might he not have suffred a furious, bloody darke spirited, divellish spirited enemy to have invaded us?
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc viii. 618 Dark-minded man!
1831 N.-Y. Mirror 3 Sept. 68/1 Do not look upon me, reader fair, as a dark-dispositioned intruder; mine is not a curdled spirit.
1874 Mission Life 5 110 Dark-natured, hard and cold, he cannot change.
1984 Orange Coast Nov. 140/2 A former critical favorite, the dark-humored director now seems hell-bent on antagonizing viewers.
1996 Independent (Nexis) 28 Oct. 10 The ‘mean’ Bob Dole of failed campaigns past is re-emerging, sharp-tongued and dark-tempered, less statesman than hatchetman.
C2. † dark-closet n. Obsolete rare a wardrobe or cupboard.† dark house n. Obsolete a place of confinement; (sometimes) spec. one for people considered insane; a prison.Cf. darkroom n. 1 and to keep (a person) dark at sense 1c.† dark light n. Obsolete a shutter; esp. (on a ship) a wooden or iron shutter which may be fixed outside a cabin window or porthole in bad weather to prevent water from entering; = dead-light n. 1. [ < dark adj. + light n.1 (compare light n.1 9).] † dark-sighted adj. Obsolete having poor eyesight; (also figurative) unable to see or comprehend clearly.† dark tent n. Obsolete rare a camera obscura; cf. earlier darkroom n. 2.
dark arches n. (more fully dark arches moth) a noctuid moth, spec. the common Eurasian species Apamea monoglypha, which is pale to dark brown with darker markings.Cf. arch n.1 7.
ΚΠ
1809 A. H. Haworth Lepidoptera Britannica ii. 186 N[octua]. (The dark Arches) cristata alis deflexis dentatis variegatis.
1894 Naturalists' Mag. May 157 The dark arches moth is by no means constant to any decided pattern of marking.
1921 Conquest Sept. 496/2 The Dark Arches (Xylophasia monoglypha).
1958 W. J. Stokoe Caterpillars Brit. Moths (ed. 2) I. 255 The Dark Arches, sub-family Agrotinae, Apamea monoglypha, occurring in all parts of the British Isles... It is very variable in its general colouring.
2012 @CountrysideKev 11 Aug. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Aldridge Airport moths: less than y'day 36 Small Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, 3 Lge Y U'wing, 4 Dunbar, 2 Dark Arches & 1 Marbled Beauty.
dark box n. Photography a box which excludes light, used for storing plates or other light-sensitive equipment.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > camera > parts and accessories of camera > [noun] > plate-holders or boxes
dark box1839
plate holder1850
slide1856
repeating back1867
cassette1875
roller slide1877
kit1885
sheath1890
1839 Morning Herald (N.Y.) 11 Oct. He then put it [sc. a brass plate] into a dark box and kept it some fifteen minutes in the vapor of anodyne.
2006 Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 9 July 3 I built the camera, tripod and portable dark box and use a tintype process.
dark cell n. now historical a prison cell with no windows or other sources of light, in which a prisoner is kept in solitary confinement as a form of extreme punishment.
ΚΠ
1831 Rep. Select Comm. Secondary Punishments 5 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 276) VII. 519 There are two modes of solitary confinement; one is in the dark cells, where light is totally excluded, and bread and water is the diet.
1926 J. Black You can't Win ix. 114 The cooler or dark cell was the same as other cells, except that there was nothing in it and the door was solid, admitting no light.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 Jan. a12/3 The concept of solitary confinement, pioneered..in the ‘dark cells’ of San Quentin's dungeon.
dark chocolate n. chocolate made without the addition of milk; cf. plain chocolate n.Dark chocolate typically contains a higher percentage of cocoa solids and less sugar than milk chocolate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > chocolate
jessamy-chocolate1697
milk chocolate1723
plain chocolate1737
chocolate drop1764
chocolate cream1851
chocolate1852
chocolate liqueur1864
chocolate button1865
choc1874
chocolate bar1875
choccy1885
langue de chat1897
black chocolate1902
soft centre1902
truffle1902
liqueur chocolate1904
bar1906
bark1910
chocolate coin1910
white chocolate1917
dark chocolate1930
Mars bar1932
Smarties1939
nutty1947
liqueur1965
1930 H. W. Bywaters Mod. Methods Cocoa & Chocolate Manuf. xx. 205 Milk chocolate requires but little heat, if any, but ordinary dark chocolate can be heated to from 150° to, say, 190° F. with advantage.
1993 Air Canada en Route Feb. 56/2 A slice of rich dark-chocolate Caribbean pie.
2011 Maya News 16 Feb. 26/1 Research into dark chocolate, containing around 60 per cent cocoa, and cocoa drinks found that they too had..more flavanols—health-giving plant chemicals—than fruit.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > cupboard or cabinet > [noun]
aumbry1356
shelfc1440
armoryc1485
cupboard1530
armoire1571
amberc1625
tabern1657
dark-closet1726
almirah1788
cwtch1890
bahuta1916
muurkas1949
1726 G. Leoni Alcuni Disegni di Edificj: Some Designs for Buildings To Rdr. sig. Bv/2 These side vacancies are made to serve for Ward-robes or Cup-boards, which by a new name in the Art are called Dark-closets.
dark-coloured adj. having a colour which approaches black in shade; not light or pale in colour.
ΚΠ
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxv If the eye be whyte lyke talowe and the strindes darke coloured, than he [sc. a shepe] is rotten.
1649 Moderate Intelligencer No. 215. 2018 Bonnets, of a dark-coloured Cloth.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iii. 161 Whether I shall put on..my dark coloured suit.
1867 R. Hunt Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 6) III. 405 Pennsylvanian petroleum is dark-coloured, with a peculiar greenish lustre.
1999 S. Owen Indonesian Regional Food & Cookery (rev. ed.) 268 At the centre of the fruit is the dark-coloured seed, the nutmeg itself.
dark-complexioned adj. having dark or relatively dark skin.
ΚΠ
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Cloudy, dark-complexion'd.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast x. 24 A delicate, dark-complexioned young woman.
2004 R. W. Jennings Scribble 92 A handsome, dark-complexioned, lively-looking man with slicked down, wavy hair.
dark current n. Electronics the residual electric current flowing in a photoelectric device when there is no incident illumination.
ΚΠ
1913 W. F. Schulz in Astrophysical Jrnl. 38 189 By this arrangement the ‘dark current’ could be completely neutralized.
1947 Jrnl. Optical Soc. Amer. 37 424/2 Associated with this component of the dark current is a shot noise resulting from random thermionically emitted electrons.
1989 P. Horowitz & W. Hill Art of Electronics (ed. 2) xv. 998/2 A PMT [= photomultiplier tube] that has seen the light of day, even without power applied, may require 24 hours or more to ‘cool down’ to normal dark-current levels.
2012 PC Pro July 60/1 As the current fluctuates, dark current manifests as uneven smears of colour, sometimes referred to as thermal noise.
dark discharge n. Physics a non-luminous electric discharge, or non-luminous region of a discharge, in a low-pressure gas-filled tube; cf. dark space n.
ΚΠ
1838 M. Faraday in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 128 i. 139 The dark discharge through air..leads to the inquiry, whether the particles of air are..capable of effecting discharge from one to another without becoming luminous.
1925 M. de Kay Thompson Theoret. & Appl. Electrochem. (rev. ed.) xvii. 378 The dark discharge has no chemical effect; this begins to take place only when luminescence appears.
2007 A. Fridman et al. Adv. in Heat Transfer i. vii. 58 The luminosity appears after 10-60s of existence of the dark discharge.
dark-eyed adj. having eyes with dark irises.figurative in quot. 1608.
ΚΠ
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vi. 119 Out of season, threatning darke ey'd night. View more context for this quotation
1793 E. Darwin Let. 17 Jan. (2007) 414 Dark-eyed people with large pupils.
1814 Ld. Byron Corsair iii. xvii. 87 And now he turn'd him to that dark-eyed slave.
1999 New Yorker 22 Feb. 78/1 She is tall and dark-eyed, with..a theatrically sculpted face.
dark fantasy n. a work of fiction, as a novel, film, etc., combining elements of horror and fantasy, typically sinister, bleak, or disturbing in tone or subject matter; (also) such fiction as a genre.In early use not a fixed collocation.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > novel > [noun] > other types of novel
political novel1735
comic novel1787
epistolary1804
autobiographical novel1832
Robinsonade1837
roman1867
sea-book1867
roman à clef1882
roman expérimental1884
hill-top novel1895
saga1895
Bildungsroman1910
pulp fiction1931
American Gothic1938
Künstlerroman1941
suspense novel1952
nouveau roman1959
sword and sorcery1961
graphic novel1964
non-fiction novel1965
schlockbuster1966
dark fantasy1968
celebrity novel1969
swashbuckler1975
chick lit1988
splatterpunk1988
Aga saga1992
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > other types
romantic comedy1748
epic1785
pre-release1871
foreign film1899
frivol1903
dramedy1905
film loop1906
first run1910
detective film1911
colour film1912
news film1912
topical1912
cinemicrograph1913
scenic1913
sport1913
newsreel1914
serial1914
sex comedy1915
war picture1915
telefilm1919
comic1920
true crime1923
art house1925
quickie1926
turkey1927
two-reeler1928
smellie1929
disaster film1930
musical1930
feelie1931
sticky1934
action comedy1936
quota quickie1936
re-release1936
screwball comedy1937
telemovie1937
pickup1939
video film1939
actioner1940
space opera1941
telepic1944
biopic1947
kinescope1949
TV movie1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
deepie1953
misterioso1953
film noir1956
policier1956
psychodrama1956
free film1958
prequel1958
co-production1959
glossy1960
sexploiter1960
sci-fier1961
tie-in1962
chanchada1963
romcom1963
wuxia1963
chick flick1964
showreel1964
mockumentary1965
sword-and-sandal1965
schlockbuster1966
mondo1967
peplum1968
thriller1968
whydunit1968
schlocker1969
buddy-buddy movie1972
buddy-buddy film1974
buddy film1974
science-fictioner1974
screwball1974
buddy movie1975
slasher movie1975
swashbuckler1975
filmi1976
triptych1976
autobiopic1977
Britcom1977
kidflick1977
noir1977
bodice-ripper1979
chopsocky1981
date movie1983
kaiju eiga1984
screener1986
neo-noir1987
indie1990
bromance2001
hack-and-slash2002
mumblecore2005
dark fantasy2007
hack-and-slay2007
gorefest2012
kidult-
1968 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 25 Feb. 38/2 Dark fantasy: The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter... The heroine of this violent English fairytale..has for company her younger brother and sister, the old housekeeper, and her mirror.
1987 Lambda (Laurentian Univ.) 30 Sept. 10/1 This week, we are looking at Hungry Moon, a dark fantasy (dark fantasy is the critic's word for horror stories).
2007 Daily Republican Reg. (Mt. Carmel, Illinois) 26 Feb. 10/5 Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's dark fantasy ‘Pan's Labyrinth’ won three Oscars, including the cinematography prize.
2021 Hollywood Reporter (Nexis) 8 June The series is described as..a rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven.
dark-haired adj. having black or dark brown hair.In quot. 1697 of a wig: made from black or dark brown hair.
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the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > having dark hair
blackeOE
black-hairedc1540
brown-haired1686
dark-haired1697
brunette1724
brune1747
raven-haired1778
melanocomous1836
night-haired1839
1697 Post Boy 5 Aug. A short thick man, full shouldered a little stooping, dark hair'd Wig.
1833 J. S. Mill Let. 25 Nov. (1910) I. 77 Dark-haired men with formidable moustaches.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 119/1 This evidence applies only to the dark-haired southern races.
2003 C. Mendelson Daughters of Jerusalem 4 She is dark-haired, pale-eyed, fierce-looking.
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society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [noun] > place of confinement > for madman
dark housec1225
darkrooma1616
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) l. 218 Dreihen hire into darc [c1225 Bodl. dorc] hus.
?1569 T. Underdowne tr. Heliodorus Æthiopian Hist. viii. f. 109 He..was offended with Theagenes, by and by laid him in Irons, and tormented him with Honger and Stripes, beinge inclosed in a darke house.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. ii. 387 Loue is meerely a madnesse, and..deserues as wel a darke house, and a whip, as madmen do. View more context for this quotation
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > other parts of body of vessel > [noun] > opening in side of vessel > for light air > shutter for
dark light1640
dead-light1726
1640 M. Parker Robin Conscience (new ed.) 10 When the shop-folke me did spy They drew their darke light instantly.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 452 We..caulked the dark-lights.
1852 Naut. Mag. & Naval Chron. Aug. 448 The cabin dark lights were all stove in, and the rollers sweeping all before them in the cabin.
dark line n. a line of relative darkness in the spectrum of light coming from a given source, caused by absorption of light at a particular wavelength; = absorption line n. at absorption n. Compounds 2; often in plural or as a modifier.Cf. bright line n. 1, Fraunhofer lines n. at Fraunhofer n.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > system of absorption bands > dark lines of
dark line1802
absorption line1861
1802 W. H. Wollaston in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 92 ii. 378 C, the limit of green and blue, is not so clearly marked as the rest; and there are also, on each side of this limit, other distinct dark lines.
1890 C. A. Young Elem. Astron. vi. §207 The characteristic feature of the visual spectrum [of the sun's corona] is a bright line in the green... It coincides with a dark line..on Kirchhoff's map of the solar spectrum.
1928 W. M. Smart Sun, Stars & Universe vi. 83 Certain groups of lines which are known to belong to the arc spectra of the elements concerned..together with their dark-line counterparts in the solar spectrum.
2017 Guardian (Nexis) 5 Jan. (Books section) The photographs could, with the use of diffraction gratings, yield stellar spectra striated by those characteristic dark lines that are the signatures of various elements.
dark-looking adj. dark in colour or tone.
ΚΠ
1756 B. Brenan Painter's Breakfast 4 I have prepar'd three of the right sort [of pictures] for him; dark looking things you can make nothing of.
1908 Irish Monthly 36 335 Margaret had in her hand a goblet of sweet drink, a dark-looking red stuff, made of some kind of preserves steeped in water.
2015 Islander (Nexis) 18 Mar. It was a dark looking sky as the ladies arrived at the golf course..but it turned into a beautiful day.
dark money n. money obtained from illicit, unknown, or undisclosed sources; (U.S. Politics) money donated to non-profit organizations which is subsequently contributed to electoral funds, thereby avoiding disclosure of information about the size and origin of political donations.
ΚΠ
1993 Wall St. Jrnl. 22 Sept. a14 Two mayors..have been detained for allegedly taking ‘dark money’ from contractors.
2010 USA Today (Nexis) 8 Nov. (Final ed.) 14 a The most pernicious element..is the rising pool of dark money—the untraceable contributions of unlimited size that pour into attack ads.
2016 Russell Sage Found. Jrnl. Social Sci. 2 52/1 In the 2012 campaign more than $300 million in dark money was spent by nonprofits directly aimed at political campaigns.
dark nebula n. Astronomy a non-luminous mass of dust and gas within a galaxy, observable because it obscures light from sources behind it.Dark nebulae typically appear as dark areas in a brightly glowing star field or cloud of gas.
ΚΠ
1903 Fortn. Rev. Apr. 603 We have obtained indications of a dark nebula such as might satisfy the conditions.
1964 R. H. Baker Astron. (ed. 8) xvi. 471 Photographs in many parts of the Milky Way show small dark nebulae against backgrounds of star-rich regions.
2012 Space Daily (Nexis) 18 Sept. This strange and complex dark nebula lies about 600-700 light-years away from Earth.
dark pool n. Stock Market a private securities exchange in which investors, typically large financial institutions, are able to make trades anonymously.
ΚΠ
2004 Fair Disclosure Wire 27 Oct. Institutions steer increasing volumes away from intermediaries to destinations that provide entities such as ALGOS and Dark Pools.
2007 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 June c3/4 D.E. Shaw trades big blocks of shares on ‘dark pool’ networks like ITG's flagship Posit system.
2016 K. T. Bhala et al. Internat. Investm. Managem. 154 Dark pools are the key vehicle for private trading.
dark rum n. a dark-coloured variety of rum with a stronger flavour than lighter types; cf. light rum n., white rum n.Dark rums are aged in charred wooden barrels, resulting in a strong flavour and dark colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > rum > [noun] > kinds of rum
Jamaica1775
white rum1816
New England1827
black jack1863
dark rum1864
black rum1872
light rum1872
Nelson's blood1905
Bacardi1921
pinga1928
navy1946
screech1946
anejo1983
1864 Aris's Birmingham Gaz. 6 Feb. 1/4 Twenty-four cases of de Kuyper's Hollands, a few lots of old pale and dark Rum.
1937 Chicago Tribune 30 Apr. 9 (advt.) Ronrico dark rum. Distilled heavy bodied Puerto Rican rum.
2003 P. Martin Mammoth Bk. Cocktails iv. 394 Mumbo Jumbo, 1½ oz. Dark Rum, 1 oz. Calvados, ½ oz. Lemon Juice, ½ oz. Gomme Syrup, pinch ground Nutmeg, pinch ground Cinnamon.
ΚΠ
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie Pref. 13 The darke-sighted man is directed by the cleare about things visible.
1701 London Gaz. No. 3754/8 Missing..Elizabeth Benson..dark-brown Hair'd..a little dark sighted.
1852 Waverley Mag. 15 May 294/2 Eden faded from the eyes of our first parents, and..it will never be found again by their dark-sighted and sinful posterity.
dark-skinned adj. having dark or relatively dark skin.
ΚΠ
1750 J. Mitchell in Philos. Trans. 1744–5 (Royal Soc.) 43 123 The Particles, of which white and dark skinn'd People are composed, may not be very different from one another.
1885 M. Collins Prettiest Woman in Warsaw I. ix. 141 The dark-skinned Russian women had made a hero of him.
2020 Newstex Blogs (Nexis) 24 Aug. Some of music's biggest and best anthems celebrating the beauty of dark-skinned Black women.
dark-sky adj. (attributive) designating a location or set of conditions in which the darkness of the night sky is relatively free of interference from artificial light; of or relating to a night sky having this quality, especially when suitable for astronomical observation.
ΚΠ
1953 Sky & Telescope Mar. 122/1 With contemporary techniques, it is quite feasible to detect meteors which are several magnitudes fainter than those observed by the human eye under clear dark sky conditions.
1978 Los Angeles Times 26 June (San Diego County ed.) ii. 1/2 The sky over Mt. Laguna observatory is so dark that it is thought to be the nation's second best dark-sky site.
2001 J. C. Grimwood Pashazade (2003) xii. 59 Five miles of forest and scrub around Huntsville should officially be declared a dark-sky preserve, with light-pollution strictly controlled within this perimeter.
2007 New Yorker 20 Aug. 29/2 The mall's large parking lot was fully illuminated..but it was free of what dark-sky advocates call ‘glare bombs’.
dark slide n. Photography a lightproof holder into which one or two light-sensitive photographic plates, papers, or film sheets are placed for insertion into a camera; a sliding sheath forming part of this (or in later use forming part of a roll film holder, or plate magazine) which protects light-sensitive material from accidental exposure.
ΚΠ
1852 Athenæum 18 Dec. 1377/3 (advt.) A large photographic camera, best make, with very fine achromatic lens, with rackwork adjustment, two double dark slides, &c.
1971 Photographer's Mate 3 & 2 (U.S. Bureau Naval Personnel) 312/1 The cut film holder accepts two sheets of film... It has a dark slide on each side to prevent light from reaching the film.
1997 Countryman Spring 43 I still have grandfather's original cameras. They include magnificent whole-plate and half-plate brass-mahogany models..with darkslides decorated with beautiful marquetry.
dark smoke n. smoke which equals or exceeds a particular degree of opacity established by law.Typically set at level 2 on the Ringelmann scale (see Ringelmann n.).
ΚΠ
1910 Engin. Rec. 6 Aug. 143/1 Another noteworthy feature is the Ringelmann chart system for grading smoke densities, so that the term dark smoke will have more significance under the new, than under the old act.
1958 Times 31 May 3/7 The Clean Air Act 1956 will be fully in force to-morrow, and it will be an offence punishable by fine to emit dark smoke from any chimney in England and Wales.
2014 South China Morning Post (Nexis) 5 Sept. (Opinion & Insight section) 14 It is an offence for any local vessel in the waters of Hong Kong to emit dark smoke that is as dark as, or darker than, Shade 2 on the Ringelmann Chart.
dark space n. Physics a non-luminous area in a vacuum tube traversed by an electric discharge.Two such areas typically appear, the Crookes dark space and the Faraday dark space: see the first elements.
ΚΠ
1838 M. Faraday in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 128 i. 138 A purple stream..appeared on the end of the positive rod..but never joining the negative glow, there being always a short dark space between.
1895 S. P. Thompson Elem. Lessons Electr. & Magn. (ed. 2) ii. iv. 307 The kathode exhibits a beautiful bluish or violet glow, separated from the conductor by a narrow dark space.
1920 Discovery July 217/1 The dark space around the negative pole, which has since been referred to as the Crookes or Cathode Dark Space.
2015 R. Wördenweber in P. Seidel Appl. Superconductivity I. iii. 262 The cathode fall potential increases rapidly with current, and the dark space shrinks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments for projecting image > [noun] > camera obscura or lucida
darkroom1635
dark chamber1658
scioptric1704
dark tent1706
obscura camera1706
camera obscura1716
camera1734
camera lucida1753
box camera1828
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Dark Tent, a Box made almost like a Desk, with Optick Glasses, to take the Prospect of any Building, Fortification, Landskip, etc.
1910 Encycl. Brit. V. 106/2 Kepler had made himself a portable dark tent fitted with a telescope lens and used for sketching landscapes.
dark tourism n. tourism involving travel to places identified or associated with death, suffering, or tragedy.
ΚΠ
1996 M. Foley & J. J. Lennon in Internat. Jrnl. Heritage Stud. 2 198 Dark Tourism is the term adopted by the authors for these phenomena which encompass the presentation and consumption (by visitors) of real and commodified death and disaster sites.
2018 Star-News (Wilmington, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 24 Mar. Dark tourism is a growing business, especially in port cities..where..the trafficking of African slaves has left lasting scars.
dark tourist n. a person who travels to places identified or associated with death, suffering, or tragedy.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > holiday-making or tourism > [noun] > holiday-maker or tourist > types of
waterer1776
summer boarder1826
honeymooner1832
weekender1880
beacher1923
visiting fireman1926
beach boy1939
ecotourist1985
dark tourist2000
2000 C. Simpson in Herald (Glasgow) 29 Nov. 4/8 Visitor motivation..represents an important aspect of ‘understanding’..the ‘casual’ dark tourist.
2015 D. Dalton Dark Tourism & Crime 7 Memorial museums play a vital role in the emotional engagement of dark tourists.
Darktown n. (also darktown) U.S. an area of a town or city with predominantly black or dark-skinned residents; frequently as a modifier.Usually considered offensive.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > inhabited by similar people > others
beggarya1834
bohemia1854
Darktown1884
lodgerdom1905
hobohemia1923
muesli belt1981
1884 Olean (N.Y.) Democrat 12 Aug. Ramsey & Co..have favored the editor with a set of the ‘Darktown Fire Brigade’ pictures.
1988 J. Ellroy Big Nowhere (1994) iv. 42 He was club-hopping in darktown from 9:00 or so on, the bop joints around Slauson and Central.
2007 J. McCourt Now Voyagers xi. 496 Miss Mattiwilde Dobbs is a royal singer from high-born Darktown society folk in Atlanta.
dark triad n. Psychology a set of three personality traits, psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, which are associated with callous, selfish, and manipulative behaviour and are considered to be particularly undesirable in general society and in the workplace; frequently as a modifier.
ΚΠ
2002 D. L. Paulhus & K. M. Williams in Jrnl. Res. Personality 36 559 Males scored significantly higher on all three of the Dark Triad.
2008 New Scientist 21 June 12/3 The study found that those who scored higher on the dark triad personality traits tended to have more partners and more desire for short-term relationships.
2012 A. Furnham Talented Manager 31 Dark triad traits facilitate the exploitation of others in short-term social contexts.
darkwave n. a style of rock music characterized by music played in a minor key combined with dark, sorrowful, and introspective lyrics.Darkwave developed from the post-punk and New Wave music of the late 1970s. [ < dark adj. + wave n., after New Wave n. Apparently used earlier (as an English-derived term) in German and in Slavonic languages in the 1980s.]
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > rock > types of
jazz-rock1915
rockabilly1956
rockaboogie1956
hard rock1959
folk-rock1963
soft rock1965
surf rock1965
acid rock1966
raga rock1966
progressive rock1968
Christian rock1969
cock rock1970
punk1970
punk rock1970
space rock1970
swamp rock1970
techno-rock1971
glitter rock1972
grunge1973
glam-rock1974
pub rock1974
alternative rock1975
dinosaur rock1975
prog rock1976
AOR1977
New Wave1977
pomp rock1978
prog1978
anarcho-punk1979
stadium rock1979
oi1981
alt-rock1982
noise1982
noise-rock1982
trash1983
mosh1985
emo-core1986
Goth1986
rawk1987
emo1988
grindcore1989
darkwave1990
queercore1991
lo-fi1993
dadrock1994
nu metal1995
1990 Los Angeles Times 8 July (Calendar section) 7/1 Hungarian Rock: Chords of Despair...‘A lot of young people here today are fans of dark-wave music’, he says sitting in his two-room flat..in Budapest.
1995 Factsheet Five 54 34/2 You can count on Cleopatra to utterly rule..hip music: they're the leading darkwave label.
2002 Time Out N.Y. 18 Apr. 77/1 You'll find Ian Fford spinning..new wave on the main floor, with Patrick and Cyn providing..dark wave in the chamber.
2017 Tufts Daily (Nexis) 2 Nov. (Arts section) 1 King Krule..is..heavily influenced by disparate genres like darkwave, trip hop and punk jazz.
dark well n. Microscopy (now historical) a black, typically cylindrical fitting placed in an optical microscope in order to form a dark background for a transparent object when illuminated from above.
ΚΠ
1848 J. Quekett Pract. Treat. Use Microscope iii. ix. 294 This plan will be found highly advantageous for most objects; they may be well seen with the Lieberkuhn; the black cement acts as a stop or dark well.
1920 Trans. Amer. Microsc. Soc. 39 99 The simplest way to produce a dark-well is to turn the condenser aside and place a piece of black velvet over the foot of the microscope.
2004 D. Stoner tr. H. Moe Story of Microscope ix. 167/2 The condenser is achromatic and centrable and is positioned in a cylinder (dark well) with rackwork.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
darkv.
/dɑːk/, U.S. /dɑrk/ 1. † a. intransitive. To be or become blind. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > of vision: become disordered [verb (intransitive)] > become blind
darkOE
blindc1305
darken1580
OE Glosses to Prayer (Lamb. 427) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1914) 132 328 Hebet uisus, crescit dolor capitis, ruunt dentes : deorcaþ gesihð, wecsð sar heafdes, feallaþ teþ.
?a1425 (?1373) Lelamour Herbal (1938) f. 32 (MED) A precious oynement for eyne that dyrkyn for febilnes.
c1450 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Bodl. 277) (2001) 1 Kings iv. 15 Hely..his iȝhen derkeden [a1425 Royal dasiwiden; E.V. a1382 Bodl. 959 dasewidyn, a1425 Corpus Oxf. dasweden]: & he myȝte not see.
b. transitive. To deprive (a person, the eyes) of sight; to make blind; to impair or destroy (the sight). Frequently figurative: to blind; to confound. literary and rare in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > afflict with disordered vision [verb (transitive)] > blind
blendc888
forblendc1175
blindfoldc1320
to put out a person's eyesc1325
blinda1400
dark?c1400
darken?a1425
quenchc1450
excecate?1540
stark blind1574
beblind1575
douta1616
unsight?1615
benight1621
emblind1631
occaecate1664
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) i. pr. i. l. 90 I of whom þe syȝt plonged in teres was derked.
a1475 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Cambr. Gg.1.16) (1997) iii. xxxix. 109 In many þe ye of intencion is darked.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. B.ivv Her syght sholde haue be derked.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Div He wyll blynde thy reason and derke thy conscience.
1653 T. Whitfield Treat. Sinfull Men ix. 40 The Sun..darkes weake eyes.
1741 Weekly Hist. 8 Aug. 2 The Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life, the Bane of all our Church's Idols set up in our fleshly Hearts have blinded our Minds, and darked our Understandings.
1914 Editor 9 May 293 The magic and the madness darks your eyes.
1954 A. E. Watts tr. Ovid Metamorphoses ix. 210 The heavens spoke plain With warning signs, but madness darked my brain.
2.
a. transitive. To deprive (a place, the day, etc.) of light; to make dark; = darken v. 1b. literary and rare in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > make dark [verb (transitive)]
thesterc888
darkc1300
endark?c1400
darken?1521
endarken1569
Cimmerianize1600
sable1610
blinda1643
pitch1664
embrown1667
disilluminate1865
c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 1414 Overcast heo is with the clouden..Whar thurf the churchen of Engelonde idurked beoth echon.
1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 39 The Ayer was derked and obscurid with the quarels and arowes and stones.
c1503 Nutbrown Maid in R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxvv My somers day. i[n] lusty may. is derked before the none.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement iii. f. cc.iiii/2 What thyng hath darked this house..me thynke they haue closed vp dyuers wyndowes.
1637 J. Milton Comus 25 The wing'd aire dark't with plumes.
1756 R. Lewis Robin-Hood Soc. 93 Religion shortens Sorrow's Thorny Road, Dispels the Gloom which darks our sunless Days.
1859 O. W. Wight tr. F.-R. de Chateaubriand Martyrs xviii. 333 All the demons remaining in the depths of eternal night hastened upon the earth. The air was darked with this flight of unearthly spirits.
1965 Mass. Rev. 6 484 The way the gulls gather darking the land with their wings.
b. transitive (frequently in passive). To obscure or dim (light, the sun, etc.); to make dark. literary and rare in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > make dark [verb (transitive)] > obscure something luminous
darka1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 239 Þe sonne is derked wiþ þe arwes and schot of Perses.
1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xx. 62 That derked the lyght of the sonne.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes (new ed.) f. 112 The golden sunne doth darke ech starre.
1652 L. Dawes Serm. Preached Severall Occasions 14 Like to the Moon filling and waining, and sometimes so eclipsed and darked with the earth.
1838 E. B. Barrett Seraphim & Other Poems 213 Though we wear no visor down To dark our countenance.
1850 E. B. Browning Poems (new ed.) II. 5 The uplands will not let it stay To dark the western sun.
2009 Callaloo 32 221 If these lines reach you, believe that I once saw clear. Something darked the lights.
c. intransitive. Of the night, the sky, etc.: to grow or become dark; = darken v. 1 (literary and rare in later use). Formerly also (of the sun or moon): †to be eclipsed (obsolete).figurative in quot. a14002.Quot. OE shows an equivalent use of prefixed adeorcian (see note in etymology).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > become dark [verb (intransitive)]
a-thesterc885
thestera900
swerkOE
darken?a1300
dima1300
therkc1300
murkc1330
darka1393
mirkena1400
formirkenc1430
obscure?a1513
cloud1598
darkle1823
the world > the universe > heavenly body > [verb (intransitive)] > eclipse
eclipse1393
dark1485
clipc1500
immerge1704
OE Wulfstan Luke on Last Days (Hatton 113) 125 Eac hit awriten is, ðæt sunne aþystrað ær worulde ende & mona adeorcað.]
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 604 The wynd aros, the weder derketh.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 16749 Fro þenne hit derked til þe mone: ouer al the world wide.
a1400 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 265 Vnder sleuþe, darkit þe loue of holinesse.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Thystorye & Lyf Charles the Grete sig. kviijv/2 In the same yere the mone derked thre tymes.
a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. A.vi Whan the nyght darkes.
1596 H. Clapham Briefe of Bible ii. 172 Sun darks, Starres fall, the Moone doth change her hue.
1851 G. Macdonald Poems & Ess. 33 Your mason-hours with joy I've marked, When dawned each day, and when it darked.
1886 M. Gilmore Pipes from Prairie-land 126 The night, How it darks and grows chill—O little old house on the hill!
2004 E. A. Sampson How God has Led xiv. 101 The breeze was tinged with the scent of pines, and the sky darked under the first stars.
3. intransitive. To lie hidden or unseen; to lurk, sometimes in a dark place; to hide. Scottish and English regional (Cumbria and Westmorland) in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > become dark [verb (intransitive)] > lie or live in darkness
darka1375
tenebrizea1657
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > hide, lie or hidden [verb (intransitive)] > go into hiding > hidden by darkness
darka1375
darkenc1475
darkle1565
tenebrizea1657
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 17 Þe child þan darked in his den dernly him one.
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xvii. clii. sig. Tvv/2 Abowte hegges lurkyth & derkyth venemouse wormes.
1808 J. Stagg Misc. Poems (new ed.) 19 On her lwonly bed she toss'd her, Darkin till the tempest ceast.
1897 Penrith Obs. 28 Dec. in Eng. Dial. Dict. We dark't aback o' a stack.
4. transitive. To make (something) dark in colour or shade; = darken v. 2a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [verb (transitive)] > darken
darka1398
darken1550
sad1573
infuscate1650
swarthy1663
swarth1846
nebulate1874
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xlv. 257 If þe vryne..is wel disposid in..colour, nouȝt bloo noþir wan noþir idirked noþir ischadowid with myst.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) i. pr. i. l. 48 The wiche cloþes a derkenes of a forleten and dispised elde had [emended in ed. to hadde] duskid and dirkid.
1573 Treat. Arte of Limming 5 Orpyment may be..darked with Oker de Luke.
1634 J. Bate Myst. Nature & Art iii. 130 This colour shall be darked, sadded, or renewed with blacke inke.
1855 Ballou's Dollar Monthly Mag. July 65/2 The stranger was rather tall and dignified, with..a broad, high forehead, somewhat darked by a tropical sun.
1973 G. W. Haslam Okies 17 A growing wetness darked the little man's faded overalls, spreading shapelessly on his lap and his legs.
2020 Newstex Blogs (Nexis) 9 June She darked the fairy skin with stain, dressed her in wool breeks, disguised the beauty of the girl.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > keep from knowledge [verb (transitive)] > obscure
dark?c1400
darken1526
obscure1532
obnebulatec1540
to blur over1581
adumbrate1598
blind1652
mystify1827
darkle1893
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > sullying or staining of reputation > stain or sully [verb (transitive)]
filea1325
foulc1330
tache1390
dark?c1400
distain1406
smita1413
blemish1414
black?c1425
defoul1470
maculate?a1475
macule1484
tan1530
staina1535
spota1542
smear1549
blot1566
besmear1579
defile1581
attaint1590
soila1596
slubber1599
tack1601
woad1603
besmirch1604
blur1604
to breathe upon ——1608
be-smut1610
clouda1616
sullya1616
taint1623
smutch1640
blackena1649
to cast, put, throw (etc.) a slur on or upon (a person or thing)1654
beslur1675
tarnish1695
blackwash1762
carbonify1792
smirch1820
tattoo1884
dirten1987
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) i. pr. iv. l. 448 Þe wiche dignite for þei wolde derken it wiþ medelyng of some felonye.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 1763 (MED) Trouth..may be clipsed and derked be disceyte.
1559 Bp. Cox in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. vi. 101 Thus shall Learning decay in this Realm; and shortly Christ Jesus be utterly forgotten, and darked as much..as in the time of Papistry.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Feb. f. 5v Thy wast bignes [sc. of an Oake] but combers the grownd, And dirks the beauty of my blossomes rownd.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems Ep. Ded. sig. A2v Nor can ever that thick cloud you are now enveloped with, of melancholized old Age, and undeserved Adversity..dark the remembrance of your pristine Lustre.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vi, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 136 One woman..is enough to dark the fairest plot that ever was planned.
6. intransitive. English regional (northern). To listen surreptitiously, esp. with malicious intent; to eavesdrop. Also with at.
ΚΠ
1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. To dark for betts, to hearken silently which side the opinion is of.
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Dark, to listen with an insidious attention.
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 42 Dark, to listen, to pry into. ‘They dark and gep for all they can catch.’
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. What are you darking at?
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 31/1 Dark, to listen with sinister intention, to eavesdrop,..‘Whatsta darkin' at?’
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > darkened
darked?c1425
forderked1513
darkened1565
nighted1604
bedarkened1655
endarkened1744
?c1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr. Ii.3.21) (1886) v. met. iii. 124 Þe thoht of man..ne may nat by fyr of his derkyd lookynge þat is to seyn by the vigour of his inshyhte whil the sowle is in the body, knowe the thinne subtyl knyttynges of thingis.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. I.iiiiv My darked panges of cloudy thoughts.
1606 W. Warner Continuance Albions Eng. xv. xcv. 382 Gods preordinance more Strange In that darkt loue, meant sole to thee, such Prodigies should change.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† darkadv.
Obsolete.
In a dark way (in various senses of dark adj.); darkly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > [adverb]
deeplyc888
highOE
darkOE
dimly?c1225
darklyc1350
mistilya1382
murklya1400
subtlya1500
obscurelya1527
confuselya1530
diffuselyc1530
confusedly?1531
diffusedly1567
difficultly1568
indistinctly1580
enigmatically1590
perplexedly1603
subtilely1605
abstrusely1611
cloudily1651
oracularly1654
perplexly1670
reclusely1673
irrecognizably1841
Pickwickianly1866
delphically1927
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxxxviii. 39 Þu his dagena tid deorce gescyrtest.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) xciv. 8 Gif ge to dæge drihtnes stefne holde gehyran, næfre ge heortan geþanc deorce forhyrden drihtnes willan.
1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour ii. sig. F.iii So dirk Eclipsit wes his glore Quhen thay wald wyrk for him no more.
1661 W. Annand Fides Catholica 163 Because of the darkeness of mans nature; the candle of the Lord shined darker and darker.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
<
n.c1300adj.eOE
v.OE
adv.OE