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- dark (adj.) Middle English derk, later dark, from Old English deorc "without light, lacking light or brightness (especially at night), obscure, gloomy;" figuratively "sad, cheerless; sinister, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (source also of Old High German tarchanjan "to hide, conceal"), which is of uncertain etymology.
www.etymonline.com/word/dark
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Oct 13, 2021 · "without light, lacking light or brightness (especially at night), obscure, gloomy;"… See origin and meaning of dark.
- Darkener
See origin and meaning of darkener. Log in. Advertisement....
- Daring
Meaning "to challenge or defy (someone), provoke to action,"...
- Darfur
the hand opposed to the left hand, late Old English...
- Darkling
"in the dark," mid-15c., from dark (n.) + now-obsolete...
- Darjeeling
Darjeeling. town in northeastern India, from Tibetan...
- Online Etymology Dictionary
Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of...
- Darkener
There are 27 meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective dark, four of which are labelled obsolete, and one of which is considered offensive. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago. The dates beside a word indicate the earliest year for which there is a surviving written record of that word (in English, unless otherwise indicated).
Oct 15, 2024 · Extremely sad, depressing, or somber, typically due to, or marked by, a tragic or undesirable event. September 11, 2001, the day when four terrorist attacks destroyed the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, is often referred to as America's dark day.
- Mad as A Hatter
- Riding Shotgun
- Take It with A Grain of Salt
- Drinking The Kool-Aid
- Meet A Deadline
- Bite The Bullet
- Hot Shot
- Show Your True Colors
The phrase mad as a hatter may sound whimsical, but it refers to a serious medical condition that once plagued the hatmaking industry. In the 18th and 19th centuries, fur felt (which is more durable and lightweight than wool felt) for hats was made by treating animal pelts with mercury nitrate. Workers exposed to this toxic substance over time deve...
Today, riding shotgun simply means sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle, but according to How Stuff Works, that spot came with big responsibilities on stagecoaches in the Wild West. If a coach was transporting something valuable, the person who sat beside the driver might be tasked with fending off potential thieves and wild animals with a li...
Today, if someone tells you to take information “with a grain of salt,” you should be skeptical of its veracity. The origin of the phrase is a bit murky: According to one theory, the phrase was meant literally when it appeared in a disturbing context in 77 CE. Greek writer Pliny the Elder included the words “addito salis grano” in his translation o...
The origin of this saying, meaning "following the crowd," comes from the Jonestown massacre. On November 18, 1978, over 900 members of the Peoples Temple movement died in a mass suicide event that involved a fruit-flavored beverage laced with cyanide and other drugs. The murder-suicide orchestrated by cult leader Jim Jones is considered one of the ...
The word deadline was meant to be taken literally in the 19th century. During the Civil War, a dead line marked the boundarysurrounding a prison—sometimes in the form of a ditch or line in the dirt. Captive soldiers who crossed it risked getting shot. After the war, the term took on less serious implications. Coming up against a deadline isn’t exac...
Someone is usually told to "bite the bullet" before pushing through something unpleasant. Centuries ago, that something unpleasant was considerably more painful than a bothersome chore or inconvenient meeting. According to one theory, the phrase originated with wounded soldiers undergoing surgery on the battlefield without anesthesia; they were giv...
A hot shot is a (typically young) person who has an annoying habit of flaunting their success. Originally, the term described a special type of cannonball hurled at enemies. Hot shotswere heated up on open grates or in furnaces for the purpose of setting opposing ships on fire. Because the red-hot iron balls could ignite gunpowder easily, they had ...
The phrase show your true colors originated on the high seas. To gain the trust of an enemy vessel, warships used to take down their flag and fly the colors of a different country—also known as false colors. Once they came within firing range, the disguised ship would switch flags, thus “showing its true colors.” Pirate ships were known to use the ...
- Michele Debczak
English. Italian. dark ( English) Origin & history. From Middle English derk, from Old English deorc ("dark, obscure, gloomy, without light, dreadful, horrible, sad, cheerless, sinister, wicked"), from Proto-Germanic *derkaz ("dark"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- ("dim, dull"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ("dull, dirty").
The word "dark" originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *derḱ-, meaning "to see". It is related to the words "derk" (to see) in Old English, "dunkel" (dark) in German, and "tarkus" (dark) in Sanskrit. Meaning. The word "dark" primarily refers to the absence or lack of light. It can also be used figuratively to denote qualities or ...
