tenebrous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɛn.ɪ.bɹəs/, /ˈtɛn.ə.bɹəs/ (UK); /ˈtɛn.ə.bɹəs/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English,^[2][3] from Old French tenebreus,^[2][4][5][3] from Latin tenebrosus (“dark”),^{[2][4][5][3][6]} from tenebrae “darkness”.^[2][4][5][3] According to de Vaan, cited by Etymonline, tenebrae arose by dissimilation from earlier *temebrai, from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “dark”, the same root as in temerity.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Full of darkness, dark (about 1420 in the OED; probably before 1475 in Barnhart).^[7][4][5]

Semantic evolution

A figurative sense, obscure or gloomy, is recorded from 1599.^[7] The word has always been bookish, and its sense has changed little.^[7][2][3]

Timeline

• about 1420 – dark.^[7]
• early 15th century – tenebrosity “darkness”.^[5]
• 1599 – obscure, gloomy.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Dark and gloomy; shut off from light; murky.
2. Hard to understand; obscure.
3. Causing gloom.

Word family

• tenebrosity
• tenebrousness

Related words

• Tenebrae
• tenebrism
• tenebrific
• tenebrionid
• temerity

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press