darkenv.
/ˈdɑːk(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈdɑrkən/ I. Literal uses.
1. † c. intransitive. With upon or from. To fade from someone's sight; to become obscure. Obsolete. rare.
a. intransitive. To grow or become dark, esp. with the onset of night. Also occasionally with down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > become dark [verb (intransitive)]
a-thesterc885
thestera900
swerkOE
darken?a1300
dima1300
therkc1300
murkc1330
darka1393
mirkena1400
formirkenc1430
obscure?a1513
cloud1598
darkle1823
?a1300 Thrush & Nightingale (Digby) l. 4 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 101 Þe dewes darkneþ in þe dale.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 24414 Þe aier gun durken [Fairf. to derkin] and to blak.
?1566 J. Alday tr. P. Boaistuau Theatrum Mundi iii. sig. P.viii The vale of the temple did breake, the earth quake, the sunne darken and chaunge his Eclipse.
1642 F. Kinnaston Leoline & Sydanis 34 Now as before a storme, the clouded skie Blackens and darkens.
1750 Hist. Charlotte Summers II. v. 71 The Night began to darken and grow cloudy.
1846 A. Marsh-Caldwell Emilia Wyndham I. v. 104 The evening had drawn on, and the room was darkening.
1863 N. Hawthorne Our Old Home II. 80 The chill..twilight of an autumn day darkening down.
1987 M. Ondaatje In Skin of Lion (1988) 183 Behind him the landscape was darkening down fast.
2004 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 20 Aug. When the Cardiff sky began to darken and the first stars pricked through the dusk.
b. transitive. To make (something) dark or darker; to deprive of light; to shut out, obstruct, or diminish the light of.In figurative context in quot. 1623.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > make dark [verb (transitive)]
thesterc888
darkc1300
endark?c1400
darken?1521
endarken1569
Cimmerianize1600
sable1610
blinda1643
pitch1664
embrown1667
disilluminate1865
?1521 J. Fisher Serm. agayn Luther sig. D.v Whan ye shal behold ye thick black clowdes aloft. yt shal darken al ye face of ye heuen. & shadow from you ye clere light of ye sonne.
1555 R. Eden Of Pole Antartike in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 245 The heauen is seldome darkened with clowdes.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 227 Whose Figure euen this instant Clowd puts on, By Darkning my cleere Sunne. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 501 When Night Darkens the Streets. View more context for this quotation
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 35 I Perceived that something darken'd the passage more than myself..it was effectually Mons. Dessein.
1839 W. C. Harris Wild Sports S. Afr. x. 81 Prodigious swarms of locusts..were followed by such dense flights of birds as almost to darken the air.
1996 Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) 4 Apr. (City ed.) She recommends using a dimmer switch to lighten or darkenthe lights in the room.
2019 Baltimore Sun (Nexis) 1 Jan. a1 A total lunar eclipse falls on Jan. 21, darkening the moon behind Earth's shadow.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > become obscure [verb (intransitive)]
darken1722
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > darkness or gloom > be dark or gloomy [verb (intransitive)] > become dark, dim, or obscure
skewc1400
overcastc1475
thickena1616
darken1722
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature ix. 151 When I bid my last farewell to these walks,..and yonder blew regions and all this scene darken upon me and go out.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold I. i. i. 17 The vision darkens from me.
2.
a. transitive. To make (something) dark or darker in colour or shade.In quot. 1550 as part of an extended metaphor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [verb (transitive)] > darken
darka1398
darken1550
sad1573
infuscate1650
swarthy1663
swarth1846
nebulate1874
1550 R. Hutchinson Image of God Ep. Ded. sig. A.vv All the other Apostles, Euangelistes, and Prophetes were paynters. My mynde is..to renew, and repayre again the olde Image that Paul made, which hath bene so darkened wyth gloses, and is so bespotted wyth coloures of mans witte, so stayned [etc.]
1660 Whole Art of Drawing 12 It is a facile matter to darken a light Colour, but a difficult to lighten a deep one.
1717 A. Pope Eloisa to Abelard in Wks. 425 Her gloomy presence..Shades ev'ry flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Ginevra in Posthumous Poems (1824) 229 The bridal veil, Which..darkened her dark locks.
1889 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) Arrope, a sort of liquor used for increasing the body and darkening the color of sherry.
1961 A. Hosain Sunlight on Broken Column (1988) iii. iii. 184 Now the skin glowed, the eyes were exaggerated in length and darkened with kejal, the eyebrows arched and lengthened.
2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 3 May e3/5 ‘Glow’ lotions..are moisturizers that gradually darken the skin with each use.
b. intransitive. To become dark or darker in colour or shade.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [verb (intransitive)] > become dark
wanc1000
darken1731
1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope I. iv. 56 The Magellanicans are Whites. From them the Colour darkens in America all the Way to the Tropick of Capricorn.
1883 J. T. Taylor Hardwich's Man. Photogr. Chem. (ed. 9) 248 Such papers darken in the sun.
1970 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 15 Feb. 15/4 The..pews, chancel and rails of Douglas fir have darkened and mellowed with age.
2009 Daily Tel. 21 Apr. 25/3 His paintings have darkened and cracked to a degree that has rendered many more or less unexhibitable.
II. Figurative and extended uses.† 5. intransitive. To lie hidden; to lurk. Cf. dark v. 3. Obsolete.
3. † b. transitive. To deprive (a person) of glory, honour, or reputation. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To spoil, tarnish, or impair (something); to make less certain or optimistic; to cast a shadow over.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > make dejected [verb (transitive)] > overspread with gloom
overcastc1300
alangec1330
darkena1382
overcloudc1550
overshadow?1602
clouda1616
benighta1631
un-sunshine1659
gloom1745
sombre1787
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Wisd. iv. 12 Priue desceyuyng of triflyng: derkneþ goode thingis.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique ii. f. 64v He..that poysoneth a mannes hone{st}ie, and seketh to obscure and darken his estimacion.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 41 With these forc'd thoughts, I prethee darken not The Mirth o' th' Feast. View more context for this quotation
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxviii. 96 The fame of the apostles..was darkened by religious fiction.
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Disowned 41 No, I will not darken your fair hopes.
1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect Long Life II. 138 Domestic affliction..darkened the later years of his life.
1962 Guardian 15 Dec. 7/1 That dread word, ‘Splittism’, which has never before darkened a page of the Sino-Soviet polemic, broke through to the surface of the Peking ‘People's Daily’ yesterday.
1984 Financial Times (Nexis) 19 June 38 The opening of a sixth week of strikes darkened prospects for continued economic recovery in West Germany.
2018 Washington Post (Nexis) 8 Nov. (Regional ed.) a38 That evening, his looming loss appeared to darken his mood.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > obscurity or ingloriousness > cast into obscurity [verb (transitive)]
obscure1548
eclipse1581
disgrace1589
darken1609
overshadow1642
unperson1966
1609 T. Taylor Beawties Beth-el 45 Their infirmities cloude their beautie, and darken them in mens eyes, when yet they remaine most deare vnto God.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. vii. 5 And you are darkned in this action Sir, Euen by your owne. View more context for this quotation
1784 S. Humphreys tr. T.-S. Gueulette Peruvian Tales (ed. 5) II. 264 All these arts to render him dazzling, bright, and glaring, serve only to darken him in the esteem of the disconsolate Princess Mama Oello.
c. intransitive. To become more gloomy, pessimistic, or sombre.
ΚΠ
1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 6 Where gay Delusion darkens to Despair!
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities 132 Mr. Lorry's hope darkened, and his heart grew heavier again.
1989 Financial Times 19 July 4/1 Australia's gloomy economic outlook darkened further yesterday.
2019 FT.com (Nexis) 25 Sept. The mood darkened as MPs grasped the extent to which he intended to try to rouse public fury against them.
4. † a. transitive. To deprive (a person, the eyes) of sight; to make blind; to impair or destroy (the sight). Also in figurative contexts. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > afflict with disordered vision [verb (transitive)] > blind
blendc888
forblendc1175
blindfoldc1320
to put out a person's eyesc1325
blinda1400
dark?c1400
darken?a1425
quenchc1450
excecate?1540
stark blind1574
beblind1575
douta1616
unsight?1615
benight1621
emblind1631
occaecate1664
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 133 Sharp þingez..as..synapis, i. synvey..bryngeþ noying to þe heued & derkeneþ þe eien for vaporose hete.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. iii. f. xxxi It was time for him to cum furth into the sight of the world..yt it might appere what maner of one & how mighty he was, & that he might obscure & darken al men.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 658 Their eie sight being naturally weake, is..darkened by the great light of the day.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 81. ⁋5 Over this law, indeed, some sons of sophistry have been subtle enough to throw mists, which have darkened their own eyes.
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present ii. iv. 78 His eyes were somewhat darkened.
1913 H. T. White Civil Servant in Burma xii. 209 She was totally blind, but the disease which had darkened her sight left no disfigurement.
b. intransitive. Of the sight: to be lost or impaired (in later use temporarily, as when losing consciousness); to become clouded.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > of vision: become disordered [verb (intransitive)] > become blind
darkOE
blindc1305
darken1580
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong at Entrecharger My sight diminisheth, darkneth, or waxeth darke.
1721 E. Young Revenge i. 13 When with cold Dew my fainting Brow is hung, And my Eyes darken, From my fault'ring Tongue Her Name will tremble in a feeble Moan.
1856 C. L. Hentz Ernest Linwood lii. 409 My brain reeled and my sight darkened.
2010 Iowa Rev. 40 130 Anne's vision darkens and she knows that she will pass out.
c. transitive. To deprive (the mind, understanding, etc.) of intellectual or spiritual awareness; to impair or diminish (the understanding); to deprive of insight.intransitive in quot. 1813: to lose intellectual and spiritual awareness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > intellectual ignorance > deprive of enlightenment [verb (transitive)]
obfuscate1536
darken1582
benight1610
cramp1647
benighten1844
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > inspiration or revelation > inspire [verb (transitive)] > deprive of inspiration or revelation
darken1582
1582 Bible (Rheims) Rom. i. 21 Their folish hart hath been darkened.
a1652 J. Smith Select Disc. (1821) ix. ii. 414 To rise above that vaporous sphere of sensual and earthly pleasures, which darken the mind.
1758 S. Hayward Seventeen Serm. ii. 41 We shall find the understanding awfully darkned.
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab viii. 106 Man..Shrank with the plants, and darkened with the night.
1884 G. Gissing Unclassed II. iv. ii. 143 With a strange ignorance of herself, such as now and then darkens us.
2000 Evening Standard (Nexis) 8 May 58 A myth which was fatally influential during the interwar years, and which continues, even now, to darken our understanding of the last century.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > hide, lie or hidden [verb (intransitive)]
mitheeOE
wryOE
darea1225
skulka1300
hidec1330
hulkc1330
dilla1400
droopc1420
shroudc1450
darkenc1475
conceal1591
lie1604
dern1608
burrow1614
obscurea1626
to lie (also stand, stay, etc.) perdu1701
lie close1719
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > hide, lie or hidden [verb (intransitive)] > go into hiding > hidden by darkness
darka1375
darkenc1475
darkle1565
tenebrizea1657
c1475 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 3 (MED) Alle dyrkyns [?a1425 Lamb. durkene, c1440 Thornton darkis] the dere, in the dym scoghes.
a1513 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen in Poems (1998) I. 41 I drew in derne to the dyk to dirkin efter mirthis.
6. transitive. To obscure the meaning or intelligibility of (something); to make (something) unclear, confused, or difficult to understand. Now only in to darken counsel: to confuse or obscure matters.In to darken counsel, with allusion to Job 38:2 (see quot. 1560).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > make obscure [verb (transitive)]
obfusk1490
darken1526
obfuscate1536
perplex1547
overcloudc1550
offuscate1567
obscure1584
offusque1599
intenebrate1618
tenebrificatec1743
nubilate1801
riddle1817
obscurify1826
obfusticate1834
fog1847
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > keep from knowledge [verb (transitive)] > obscure
dark?c1400
darken1526
obscure1532
obnebulatec1540
to blur over1581
adumbrate1598
blind1652
mystify1827
darkle1893
1526 W. Tyndale Prol. Epist. Rom. sig. aij It hath bene hetherto evyll darkened with glooses and wonderfull dreames off sophisters, that noman cowde spye oute the entente and meaning off it.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Ceremonies f. xxxv*v They dyd more confounde, and darken, then declare..Christes benefites.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Job xxxviii. 2 Who is this that darkeneth the counsel by wordes without knowledge?
1720 R. Welton tr. T. Alvares de Andrade Sufferings Son of God II. xxii. 595 The more sublime..his Doctrine was, the more they strove to darken and Be-mist it.
1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 179 They speak the wisdom of the skies, Which art can only darken and disguise.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. viii. 199 The belief..was confused and darkened by the cross-belief that the material world had fallen under the dominion of Satan.
1996 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 1 Jan. 6 The officer's draft..stunned Scottish civil servants who argued it was vague, confusing, and ‘likely to serve only to darken counsel and provoke requests for further information’.
7. intransitive. Of the face or expression: to show anger, dislike, disapproval, or other strong negative emotion.
ΚΠ
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. i. 23 ‘Do you menace me!’ replied the brother, his countenance darkening.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. iv. 109 His displeasure seemed to increase, his brow darkened.
1920 C. D. McEnniry Father Tim's Talks (ed. 5) I. 172 Her face darkened with repulsion, and she stood silently regarding him with a cold stare.
2008 Z. Heller Believers ii. 34 Audrey's expression darkened.
Phrases
to darken a person's door and variants: to set foot inside a person's home. Usually in negative constructions indicating that a person should not, or does not, visit another; frequently in never darken my door, used to express that a person should stay away forever. Later also in extended use: to go to or visit a place.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > visit > visiting > visit [verb (transitive)] > appear on threshold as a visitor
to darken a person's door?1645
?1645 J. Taylor Most Learned & Eloquent Speech 4 We have taken order, and given Ordinances that he shall not be troubled with either much money, or meate, and that his very Queene and lawfull Wife, shall not so much as darken his doore.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. xl. 159 If ever my sister Clary darkens these doors again, I never will.
1826 Blackwood's Mag. 19 11/1 You are the first minister that ever darkened these doors.
1847 C. G. F. Gore Castles in Air II. iv. 82 Bella..has got it running in her head that my poor brother will never darken our threshold again.
1953 E. S. Grenfell in Landfall June 99 You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Tolly, never darkening a church door.
1988 S. Rushdie Satanic Verses (1998) 134 She..sent her whole family packing.., never darken her doorstep, she told them, cut the whole lot off without a penny.
2018 Times (Ireland ed.) (Nexis) 19 Feb. (Opinion section) 38 I hate you. Never darken my door again.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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