tenebrae

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛ.nɛ.brae̯], [tɛˈnɛb.rae̯]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛː.ne.bre], [teˈnɛb.re]^[1]

Forms

tenebrae f pl (genitive tenebrārum); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It continues Proto-Italic *temasrā- (“darkness”), the feminine of an adjective Proto-Indo-European *temH-s-ro- (“dark”), with /m/ dissimilated to /n/ before /b/.^[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit तमिस्रा (támisrā, “dark night”) and Old High German demar (“twilight”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, where a character says it was dark “as in a well”.^[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was darkness, the absence of light, and the darkness of blindness or death.^[3] Figuratively it was mental darkness or ignorance, obscurity or concealment, and a dark or gloomy state of affairs, as the “fog and darkness” that covered the state in Cicero.^[3] Isidore says darkness is nothing but the absence of light.^[5]

In the medieval Church Tenebrae were the matins of the last three days before Easter.^[6] Its derivative tenebrōsus gave English tenebrous in the late 15th century.^[7] It survives in Italian tenebre and Spanish tinieblas.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus says it was dark as a well.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the darkness over the state.^[3][4]
• late 15th century – English tenebrous is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Darkness.^[3]
2. Blindness; the darkness of death.^[3]
3. (figurative) Ignorance.^[3]
4. Obscurity, concealment.^[3]
5. A gloomy state of affairs.^[3]
6. (Medieval Latin) Tenebrae, the matins of Holy Week.^[6]

Related words

• obtenebrō
• tenebellae
• tenebrārius
• tenebrātiō
• tenebrēscō
• tenebricō
• tenebricōsus
• tenebricus
• tenebriō
• tenebrōsus
• English tenebrous

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts obscūrum, darkness as an obstruction of light, with tenebrae, the absence of light, opposed to lūx.^[8] It is a plural noun, the singular tenebra being late.^[3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press