Dark Ages

Meaning

1. The period of European history encompassing (roughly) 476–1000 CE.
2. The Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100–750 BCE).
3. The dark ages of Cambodia (c. 1450–1863).
4. The dark ages of Laos (c. 1707–1893).
5. The Dark Ages, 380 thousand to about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
6. (figuratively) Any relatively primitive period of time.

Synonyms

Middle Ages

ancient

dark age

primitive

Translations

edat mitjana

Edat Mitjana

Dunkle Jahrhunderte

dunkle Zeitalter

Moyen Âge

haut moyen âge

Prophecy

siècles obscurs

Medioevo

Dark Ages

saeculum obscurum

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈdɑːˌkeɪd͡ʒɪz/

Etymology

The phrase appears in writing of the English Reformation by Richard Sibbes (1620) and by George Abbot (1624), the archbishop of Canterbury. Both authors use it to refer to the period of papal supremacy before the Reformation. The earliest citation in Oxford English Dictionary is dated 1687. Use is specific to English therefore not likely to be from Latin.