dark
pronunciation
How to pronounce dark in British English:
UK [dɑːk]
How to pronounce dark in American English:
US [dɑːrk]
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- Noun:
- absence of light or illumination
- absence of moral or spiritual values
- an unilluminated area
- the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
- an unenlightened state
-
- Adjective:
- devoid or partially devoid of light or brightness; shadowed or black or somber-colored
- (used of color) having a dark hue
- brunet (used of hair or skin or eyes)
- stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable
- causing dejection
- secret
- showing a brooding ill humor
- lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture
- marked by difficulty of style or expression
- having skin rich in melanin pigments
- not giving performances; closed
Word Origin
- dark
- dark: [OE] Dark comes ultimately from a Germanic base *derk-, *dark-, which also produced Old High German tarchanjan ‘hide’ and Middle Low German dork ‘place where dirt collects’ (outside Germanic, Lithuanian dargus has been compared). In Old English the word usually denoted absence of light, particularly with reference to ‘night’; the application to colours did not develop until the 16th century.
- dark (adj.)
- Old English deorc "dark, obscure, gloomy; sad, cheerless; sinister, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (cognates: Old High German tarchanjan "to hide, conceal"). "Absence of light" especially at night is the original meaning. Application to colors is 16c. Theater slang for "closed" is from 1916.
- dark (n.)
- early 13c., from dark (adj.). Figurative in the dark "ignorant" first recorded 1670s.
Example
- 1. Keep the room dark when you wake up .
- 2. But all this has a dark side .
- 3. Choose dark chocolate for the extra antioxidants .
- 4. I think I 'll take the dark blue one .
- 5. Dark testicles might protect birds from mutation , scientists find .