twilight English · revision 39424

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1412–20, Lydgate's Troy Book}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtwaɪˌlaɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a late [[m|enm|twilight]], formed [[af|en|twi-|light]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) corresponding to [[nl|tweelicht]] (from the 16th century), [[nds|twilecht]] and [[de|Zwielicht]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) The force of ''twi-'' ("two") is unclear: Barnhart, Etymonline and Word Origins think it means "half" light,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) while Skeat took it as "between", like [[gmh|zwischenlicht]], literally "between-light".^(Skeat 1911)^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) Klein instead derived the English word from Middle Flemish [[m|dum|twilicht]].^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The light from the sky after sunset: 1412–20, in Lydgate's ''Troy Book''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) The rare form ''twilighting'' is recorded a little earlier, in the late 14th century.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was used mostly of evening light, but of the morning dawn as well from about 1440.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) From Milton (1667) it could mean any dim light or half-darkness.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Figurative uses began with Shakespeare's Sonnets (1609), for an intermediate condition such as the decline of life,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and soon after for dim or imperfect understanding.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as dimly lit or shaded, quoting Milton's "twilight groves".^(Johnson 1755) ''Twilight of the gods'', the destruction of the gods in Norse and German myth, is a translation of [[de|Götterdämmerung]] from the 18th century.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Weekley 1921) ''Twilight zone'' was a part of the sky lit by twilight in 1901 and an area of uncertain rules or status from 1909.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 14th century – ''twilighting''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+ * 1412–20 – the light after sunset, in Lydgate.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1440 – morning twilight.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1609 – figurative: an intermediate state, in Shakespeare.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1645 – adjective: of or like twilight, in Milton.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1667 – any dim light, in Milton.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1819 – verb: to light dimly, in Keats.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1909 – ''twilight zone'' in an extended sense.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The soft, diffused light from the sky when the sun is just below the [[horizon]], especially after [[sunset]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The period of the day when this light occurs; [[dusk]].^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The time during which the sun is a set angle below the horizon, as in civil, nautical or astronomical twilight.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A period of gradual decline or ending: ''the twilight of a long career''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A state of uncertainty or vagueness.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, like or happening in twilight; dim.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[twilit]]

+ * [[twilight sleep]]

+ * [[twilight zone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[two]]

+ * [[twin]]

+ * [[twice]]

+ * [[crepuscular]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}