Etymologically
Log in

crepusculum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 14:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [krɛˈpʊs.kʊ.ɫũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kreˈpus.ku.lum][1]

Forms

crepusculum n (genitive crepusculī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin *crepus + -culum, from a lost neuter s-stem noun that also lies behind creper (“dark; doubtful”).[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs this noun as Proto-Italic *krepos (“twilight”) and, following Leumann, takes the adjective to come from its ablative, meaning “in the twilight”.[3] No known root of this shape explains the meanings, so the further origin is unknown.[3]

Varro derived it from ⟨creperum⟩ “doubtful” and said the word had been taken from the Sabines, whence, he says, the name Crepusci at Amiternum.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus,[3][5] in the prologue of the Casina, with the phrase primō crepusculō “at first dusk”.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

It meant twilight in general, but especially the evening dusk, as opposed to dīlūculum, the morning twilight;[6][7] L&S notes that it is poetic or post-Augustan in prose.[6][7] Ovid uses the plural crepuscula for gloom or darkness, as in the dim paths of the underworld,[6][7] and Fulgentius has crepusculum sōlis for the dawn.[7] Medieval Latin used it for the dawn.[8]

English took crepuscule through Old French in the late 14th century, and the adjective crepuscular later.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses primō crepusculō “at first dusk”.[6][7][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro discusses the word and its Sabine origin.[4][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses the plural for darkness.[6][7][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder contrasts morning and dusk (māne vel crepusculō).[7][5]
  • late 14th century – English borrows crepuscule through Old French.[9]
  • 1660s – The English adjective crepuscular is first used, figuratively.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Twilight, dusk, especially the evening twilight.[2][6]
  2. (poetic, plural) Darkness, gloom.[6][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Dawn.[8]

Word family

  • crepusculāscēns
  • creper
  • dīlūculum
  • English crepuscular

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com