sunset

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsʌnˌsɛt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sonne set, from sun and set,^[2][3][4] perhaps a shortening of sun-setting, or taken from a subjunctive clause such as before the sun set.^[2][4] Old English had sunnansetlgang for sunset, while its sunset meant west.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The apparent descent of the sun below the horizon in the evening: 1390, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Figurative use, decline or close, as of a life or period of prosperity, is from about 1600 (1592).^[2][5] To ride off into the sunset, from the stereotypical ending of westerns, is from 1963–67.^[2][5] In North American politics, sunset legislation, which ends a programme automatically unless renewed, is from 1976,^[5][3] and the verb, to decline or to terminate, is North American.^[5]

Timeline

• 1390 – sunset.^[5]
• 1592 – decline (figurative).^[5]
• 1963 – ride off into the sunset.^[2]
• 1976 – sunset legislation.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The daily disappearance of the sun below the horizon, or the time when it happens.
2. The colours of the sky at this time.
3. A final stage or decline: the sunset of his career.

Adjective

1. Providing for a government programme or agency to end automatically unless renewed by law.

Word family

• sunset law

Related words

• sunrise
• sundown
• dusk

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press