twilight

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.
2. (countable, uncountable) The time when said light is visible; the period between daylight and darkness.
3. (countable, uncountable) Any faint light through which something is seen.
4. (countable, uncountable) The time when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon.
5. (broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable) An in-between or fading condition through which something is perceived.

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Pertaining to or resembling twilight; faintly illuminated; obscure.
2. (not-comparable) Synonym of mesopelagic (“Describing the pelagic zone of the ocean between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones, characterized by very minimal light.”)

Verb

To illuminate faintly.

Synonyms

dusk

evening

🌆

sunset

nightfall

gloaming

sundown

half-light

dawn

crepuscule

dim

dark

darkness

candlelight

dusky

semi-darkness

evenfall

fall

twilit

faint light

gloam

crepuscle

obscure

shade

prayer

time for disasters

gloom

crepuscular

tenebrous

tonight

decadency

early dawn

end-stage

late afternoon

half-light of early morning

after sunset

western evening sky

poor light

mirky

owl-light

slight darkness

the beginning of night

to-fall

abstruse

crepusculum

afternoon

ambiguous

blear

blind man’s holiday

blurred

blurry

Translations

crépuscule

crepuscolo

Dämmerung

crepúsculo

crepúsculo

Zwielicht

Abenddämmerung

crepuscle

schemering

crepusculum

λυκόφως

schemerdonker

halfdonker

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtwaɪˌlaɪt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: twilight

Cognate with Scots: twa licht

Cognate with Low German: twilecht

Cognate with Dutch: tweelicht

Cognate with German: Zwielicht

Cognate with Old English: twēone lēoht

In summary

PIE word
*dwóh₁
From Middle English twilight, twyelyghte, equivalent to twi- (“double, half-”) + light, literally ‘second light, half-light’. Cognate to Scots twa licht, twylicht, twielicht (“twilight”), Low German twilecht, twelecht (“twilight”), Dutch tweelicht (“twilight, dusk”), German Zwielicht (“twilight, dusk”). Compare Old English twēone lēoht (“twilight”).