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单词 dim
释义

† dimn.2

Etymology: Shortened < Latin dimidium, half (as graphic abbreviation).
Obsolete.
Half.
ΚΠ
1478 in E. Hobhouse Church-wardens' Accts. (1890) 6 John Yeng hath in his hands of the Cherche lede one cwt. dim. iiijlb.
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 180 A vault or gallery about one yd. or one yd. and dim. wide.
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 22 Adorned with stones a yard and dim. high.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

dimadj.n.1adv.

Brit. /dɪm/, U.S. /dɪm/
Forms: Old English– dim; also Middle English dime, Middle English dyme, Middle English–1500s dym, dymme, Middle English–1600s dimm, 1500s dymbe, 1500s–1600s dimme, 1600s dimn, dimb.
Etymology: Old English dim(m = Old Frisian dim, Old Norse dimm-r. Compare Old High German timbar (Middle High German timber, timmer, modern Swiss dialect timmer) ‘dim, obscure, dark’, which may represent an Old Germanic *dim-ro- and contain the same root. Not known outside Germanic.
A. adj.
1.
a. Of a light, or an illuminated object: Faintly luminous, not clear; somewhat dark, obscure, shadowy, gloomy. The opposite of bright or clear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > [adjective]
dima1000
darkOE
troublea1327
palec1385
dullc1430
unclearc1440
unbright1534
cloudy1556
unlight1570
muddy1600
wan1601
opacous1616
filmy1642
illuminous1656
crepuscular1668
dumb1720
rayless1754
opaque1794
veilya1802
turbid1811
unlucent1819
ineffulgent1824
blear1830
unrefulgent1856
subluminous1860
subaqueous1875
shineless1882
a1000 Cædmon's Sat. (Gr.) 455 Drihten sealde him dimne and deorcne deaþes scuwan.
a1000 Boeth. Metr. ii. 11 On þis dimme hol.
a1000 Boeth. Metr. xii. 16 Sio dimme niht.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 286 Euerilcon ðat helden wid him Ðo wurðen mirc and swart and dim.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 467 Whan þe day is dym and clowdy.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) x. v. 377 The flamme yeuyth dymme and derke lighte.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 472 Dryf ouer þis dymme water.
1508 Bp. J. Fisher Wks. (1876) 68 O dymbe cloude.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 30 Fayr dyana the lantern of the nycht, be cam dym ande pail.
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 43 Storied Windows richly dight, Casting a dimm religious light.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron II. vi. xxxi. 115 A light, dimmer indeed, or clearer, according to the Place.
c1750 W. Shenstone Elegies iv. 1 Through the dim veil of ev'ning's dusky shade.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Witch of Atlas xii, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 33 Her beauty made The bright world dim.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 16 The oftener light is reflected the dimmer it becomes.
b. figurative esp. of qualities usually clear or bright.
ΚΠ
OE Genesis 685 Hio spræc him þicce to and speon hine ealne dæg on þa dimman dæd þæt hie drihtnes heora willan bræcon.
c1325 Metr. Hom. 111 That..did awai his dedes dim, And mad an hali man of him.
c1400 Rom. Rose 5353 Love is..whilom dymme, & whilom clere.
1698 R. South 12 Serm. III. 287 Man's..Understanding must now be contented with the poor, dimn Light of Faith.
1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 38 Public hope grew pale and dim.
1874 J. Morley On Compromise 28 The old hopes have grown pale, the old fears dim.
2.
a. Not clear to the sight; obscured by an intervening imperfectly transparent medium, by distance, or by blurring of the surface; scarcely visible, indistinct, faint; misty, hazy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > [adjective] > indistinct
dimc1000
blinda1398
undistingued1398
obscure?a1450
undistinct1495
shadowed1588
undistinguishable1600
shady1626
blear1637
filmed1637
indistinguishable1642
crepusculous1646
adumbrated1650
oblite1650
faint1660
monogrammous1678
blurred1701
faintish1712
wispya1717
adumbrant1727
muzzy1744
indistinct1764
fuzzy1778
misty1797
shadowy1797
undistinguished1814
woolly1815
vague1822
furzy1825
mystified1833
slurred1843
feeble1860
smudginga1861
filmy1864
smudgy1865
blurry1884
slurry1937
c1000 Martyrology (E.E.T.S.) 46 Seo byrgen is bewrigen mid dimmum stanum ond yfellicum.
1632 R. Sanderson 12 Serm. 436 Dimme and confused and scarce legible.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. ii. 5 At a great distance of place, that which wee look at appears dimme.
1654 T. Fuller 2 Serm. 58 Civilized Pagans..have scoured over the dimme inscription of the Morall Law, that it appeareth plaine unto them.
1819 P. B. Shelley Lines Euganean Hills in Rosalind & Helen 70 The dim low line before Of a dark and distant shore Still recedes.
1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) i. 69 One more glimpse of Egypt dim in the distance.
b. figurative. Not clear to the mind or understanding; obscure, faint.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > [adjective]
higheOE
dighela1000
deepc1000
darkOE
starkOE
dusk?c1225
subtle1340
dimc1350
subtilea1393
covert1393
mystica1398
murka1400
cloudyc1400
hard?c1400
mistyc1400
unclearc1400
diffuse1430
abstractc1450
diffused?1456
exquisitec1460
obnubilous?a1475
obscure?a1475
covered1484
intricate?a1500
nice?a1500
perplexeda1500
difficilea1513
difficult1530
privy1532
smoky1533
secret1535
abstruse?1549
difficul1552
entangled1561
confounded1572
darksome1574
obnubilate1575
enigmatical1576
confuse1577
mysteriousa1586
Delphic1598
obfuscatea1600
enfumed1601
Delphicala1603
obstruse1604
abstracted1605
confused1611
questionable1611
inevident1614
recondite1619
cryptic1620
obfuscated1620
transcendent1624
Delphian1625
oraculous1625
enigmatic1628
recluse1629
abdite1635
undilucidated1635
clouded1641
benighted1647
oblite1650
researched1653
obnubilated1658
obscurative1664
tenebrose1677
hyperbyssal1691
condite1695
diffusive1709
profound1710
tenebricose1730
oracular1749
opaque1761
unenlightening1768
darkling1795
offuscating1798
unrecognizable1817
tough1820
abstrusive1848
obscurant1878
out-of-focus1891
unplumbable1895
inenubilable1903
non-transparent1939
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > [adjective] > obscure
cestreda1300
dimc1350
obfuscatec1487
dark1532
veiled1586
offuscate1603
shadowed1630
uncheckable1742
Nacht und Nebel1947
c1350 Leg. Rood (1871) 93 Vnto me es þis mater dym.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 121 Dymme, or harde to vndyrstonde, misticus.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1589*/2 Lyke to be buried in the dymme booke of obliuion.
1821 C. Lamb Old & New Schoolmaster in Elia 1st Ser. I have most dim apprehensions of the four great monarchies.
1836 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 33 There were dim workings of a mighty spirit within.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxviii. 52 (50) A memory dim.
3. Of colour: Not bright; dull, faint; dusky or dark; lustreless.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > faint or weak
wateryOE
dima1250
lighta1398
rare?1440
delayed1543
faint1552
weak1585
pale1598
distempered1621
washya1639
thin1649
languid1663
dilute1665
welmish1688
sickly1695
dimmed1863
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 577 Thu art dim, an of fule howe.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Lament. iv. 1 O, how is the golde become so dymme?
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors iv. f. 36 For the raynebowe is more dymme and of purple collour.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 120 Violets (dim, But sweeter then the lids of Iuno's eyes). View more context for this quotation
1728 E. Young Love of Fame v, in Wks. (1757) I. 127 Others, with curious arts, dim charms revive.
1887 R. L. Stevenson Underwoods i. iii. 5 All retired and shady spots Where prosper dim forget-me-nots.
4.
a. Not seeing clearly, having the eyesight dulled and indistinct.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [adjective] > having dimness or poor vision
darkOE
dima1220
bissona1250
murka1300
mistedc1450
obfuscatec1487
spurblind1508
sand-blind1538
dim-sighted1561
blinking1568
dimmed1590
weak-sighteda1591
purblind1592
sand-eyed1592
thick-eyed1598
left-eyed1609
mole-eyed1610
blindish1611
mole-sighted1625
sanded1629
veiled1633
weak-eyed1645
scotomatical1656
mole-blinda1660
swimming1697
wavering1842
foggy1847
scotomatous1866
clouding1868
wall-eyed1873
a1220 Bestiary 60 Siðen his fliȝt is al unstrong, and his eȝen dimme.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3570 Biginnes..þe freli fax to fal of him, And þe sight to wax well dim.
c1422 T. Hoccleve Learn to Die 228 Myn yen been al dymme and dirke.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Eccl. xii. 2 The sight of the wyndowes shal waxe dymme.
1574 A. Gilby tr. Test. Twelue Patriarches sig. Aviiiv Iacob..some what dimme for age.
1636 P. Massinger Great Duke of Florence iii. i. sig. F3 I am dimme Sir, But he's sharpe sighted.
1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women II. viii. 54 Unheeded by the dim inattentive eye.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Two Voices in Poems (new ed.) II. 126 Whose eyes are dim with glorious tears.
b. figurative. Not clearly apprehending; dull of apprehension. Applied to a person: not ‘bright’ intellectually; somewhat stupid and dull.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective] > somewhat
dullish1399
stupidish1806
dim1892
a1729 J. Rogers 19 Serm. (1735) xiv. 298 The understanding..is dim, and cannot by its natural Light discover spiritual Truths.
1731 H. Fielding Genuine Grub-St. Opera Introd. p. vii Mens Sense is dimmer than their Eyes.
1878 B. Taylor Prince Deukalion i. iv. 33 Teach your dim desire A form whereby to know itself and seek.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xxi. 325 He's a very pleasing creature, rather dim, and dull, and genteel, but really pleasing.
1910 R. Brooke Let. 3 July (1968) 243 They were very dim, and said, couldn't we find an advance agent?
1916 Beerbohm in Cornhill Mag. June 719 The young writers of that era..strove earnestly to be distinct in aspect. This man had striven unsuccessfully..I decided that ‘dim’ was the mot juste for him.
1923 J. Trevelyan Life of Mrs. H. Ward x. 192 Teachers and many ‘dim’ people of various professions would find her as accessible as her strenuous hours of labour would allow.
1924 ‘W. Fabian’ Sailors' Wives v. 63 The sexperts, which is a combination of sex and expert: I glued it together myself. Not so dim; yes?
1933 J. C. Masterman Oxf. Tragedy xv. 229 The dim little research Fellow with clumsy manners and no conversation.
1950 Listener 7 Dec. 709/2 Constable and Turner were neglected and the dim and second-rate were crowned with triumphant laurels.
c. Of a thing, situation, etc.: dull, poor, undistinguished. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [adjective]
feeblec1275
demeanc1380
unnoblec1384
coarse1424
colourlessc1425
passable1489
meana1500
indifferent1532
plain1539
so-so1542
mediocre1586
ordinary1590
fameless1611
middling1652
middle-rate1658
ornery1692
so-soish1819
nohow1828
betwixt and between1832
indifferential1836
null1847
undazzling1855
deviceless1884
uncompetitive1885
tug1890
run of the mill1919
serviceable1920
dim1958
spammy1959
comme ci, comme ça1968
vanilla1972
meh2007
1958 B. Hamilton Too Much of Water xi. 248 I personally had rather a dim war.
1958 B. Hamilton Too Much of Water xii. 266 A rather dim situation for the M.C.C.
d. to take a dim view (of something): to form or hold an unfavourable opinion (of something); to disapprove (of something). Cf. to take a poor view (of something) at poor adj. 2e.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > disapprove [verb (intransitive)]
misdeem1408
unprove1528
disapprove1717
object1865
to take a dim view1930
1930 Wichita Daily Times (Wichita Falls, Texas) 2 June 6/6 Congress in general takes a dim view of his tactics.
1944 G. Turner Let. 28 July 2 She also said she used to drive an ambulance and took a dim view when I asked her ‘in which war’.
1977 Daily News (Perth, Austral.) 19 Jan. 6/3 Bukovsky said he took a dim view of the way the West was pursuing detente.
2014 Daily Tel. 17 Oct. 34/2 He takes a dim view of his middle son's polished deviousness.
5. transferred. Of sound, and esp. of the voice: Indistinct, faint.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > faintness or weakness > [adjective]
smalleOE
stillc1000
softc1230
dim1398
lowc1400
obscure?a1450
basea1500
remiss1530
indistinct1589
demiss1646
faint1660
murmurant1669
faintish1712
slender1785
under1806
unclamorous1849
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) v. xxi. 128 They that haue grete tongues haue dymme voyce.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1575 He herde a murmurynge Ful lowe and dym.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 3672 His speche was bathe short and dym.
1795 R. Southey Vision Maid of Orleans i. 124 The damp earth gave A dim sound as they pass'd.
1817 P. B. Shelley Marianne's Dream 40 She then did hear The sound as of a dim low clanging.
B. n.1
a. Dimness; obscurity; dusk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > [noun]
dimnessc825
dimc1430
dunnessc1475
dullness1567
dimmedness1596
faintness1651
filminess1727
opacity1794
tenuity1794
c1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 53 He liȝtneþ his folk in dym.
1509 Parlyament Deuylles (de Worde) xciii Quod Symeon, ‘he lyghtneth his folke in dym Where as derkenes shedeth theyr states’.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 755 The day vp droghe & the dym voidet.
1857 C. Heavysege Saul (1869) 87 To sit were pleasant, in the dim.
b. Dimness of vision.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [noun] > dimness or poor vision
dimnessc825
misteOE
mistinessa1382
scotomiaa1400
scotomya1400
obfuscation?a1425
scotoma1543
purblindness1552
sand-blindness1552
caligation1615
caliginousness1620
weak-sightedness1632
cecutiency1646
caliginosity1657
dimsightedness1662
dim1726
caligo1801
asthenopia1875
greying out?1942
1726 W. Law Pract. Treat. Christian Perfection i. 30 Further than the Dim of Eyes of Flesh can carry our Views.
†C. adv.
Dimly, faintly, indistinctly. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > faintness or weakness > [adverb]
dimly?c1225
dim1393
remissly1530
murmuringly1611
faintly1800
vague1864
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > [adverb]
dimly?c1225
obscurelyc1586
foggily1755
dim1821
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 293 He herde a vois, which cried dimme.
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais liv. 25 That sustaining Love Which..Burns bright or dim.

Compounds

C1. Adverbial.
dim-brooding adj.
ΚΠ
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. iv. iv. 190 The whole Future is there, and Destiny dim-brooding.
dim-coloured adj.
ΚΠ
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xvii. 79 Þai er mare dymme coloured þan þe cristall.
dim-discovered adj.
ΚΠ
1747 W. Collins Odes 38 Hamlets brown, and dim-discover'd Spires.
dim-gleaming adj.
dim-grey adj.
dim-lighted adj.
dim-lit adj.
ΚΠ
1849 A. H. Clough Poems & Prose Remains (1869) II. 12 Through the dim-lit inter-space.
dim-litten adj.
ΚΠ
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 9 After the weary tossing of the night And close dim-litten chamber.
dim-remembered adj.
dim-seen adj.
ΚΠ
1827 D. M. Moir Dead Eagle ii Down, whirling..to the dim-seen plain.
dim-yellow adj.
ΚΠ
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 32 Fair head in the dim-yellow light.
C2. Parasynthetic, dim-sighted adj.
dim-browed adj.
ΚΠ
1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad 43 And night, ascending from the dim-brow'd east.
dim-eyed adj.
ΚΠ
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xcvi. sig. Bb5v The guessiue interpretations of dim-ey'd Man.
1829 T. Carlyle German Playwrights in Foreign Rev. Jan. 100 The Public is a dim-eyed animal.
dim-lettered adj.
dim-sheeted adj.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

dimv.

Etymology: < dim adj.: Old English had the compounds adimmian, fordimmian, Old Norse the intransitive dimma to become dim; the simple verb is found from 13th cent.
1. intransitive. To grow or become dim; to lose brightness or clearness. literal and figurative.
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 Christ on Cross 7 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 20 His fair lere falowiþ and dimmiþ is siȝte.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 23695 Mani flurs..þat neuermar sal dime ne duine.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9932 The day ouerdrogh, dymmet the skewis.
1607 T. Tomkis Lingua i. viii Suddenly mine eyes began to dim.
?c1710 ? E. Ward Welsh-monster 28 My Lady's Beauty, tho' divine, Would dim, without the Muses shine.
1814 Ld. Byron Lara i. xii. 202 The lone light Dimm'd in the lamp.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. iv. ii. 311 The near horizon dims.
2.
a. transitive. To make dim, obscure, or dull; to render less clear, or distinct; to becloud (the eyes).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > grow dim or lose brightness [verb (intransitive)]
dima1300
fade13..
appal1393
duskc1430
pallc1450
cloud1555
pale1822
wane1832
film1844
dull1862
gauze1876
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > make dim [verb (transitive)]
fordima1050
dima1300
indim?1520
pall1539
bedim1582
efisc1656
appale1686
defalcate1808
bedull1836
scumble1905
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > afflict with disordered vision [verb (transitive)] > dim
dima1300
blemish1440
troublea1500
misten1599
perstringe1603
blear1605
tara1612
disgregatea1631
purblind1644
obfuscate1656
blast1757
blur1791
bedim1811
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxiv §4 Ðeah heora mod..sie adimmad.]
a1300 E.E. Psalter lxviii. 24 Dimmed be þair eghen, þat þai ne se.
c1400 Song Roland 580 Dew diskid adoun and dymmyd the floures.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 121 Dymmyn, or make dymme, obscuro.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 516/3 I dymme the coloure or beautye of a thyng..Se howe these torches have dymmed this gylting.
1599 J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 87 As lightning or the Sun-beames dimme the sight.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 184. ⁋1 The writer of essays..seldom..dims his eyes with the perusal of antiquated volumes.
1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 202 The light streamed through windows dimmed with armorial bearings.
1836 W. S. Landor Pericles & Aspasia I. 220 The mirrour is too close to our eyes, and our own breath dims it.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Kiiiiv It dymeth or maketh derke their lytel holynesse.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. iv. viii. 114 Forced the Conquerours to retreat, and in some sort, dimmed their Triumph.
1840 C. Kingsley Let. Nov. in Lett. & Memories (1877) I. 49 My natural feelings of the just and the beautiful..have..been dimmed by neglect.
1851 D. G. Mitchell Fresh Gleanings 275 Its quaint houses..are dimmed to memory by the fresher recollections of that beautiful river.
c. to dim out: to reduce the brightness of (street-lighting, etc.), esp. in time of war; to impose a ‘dim-out’ on (a city, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > make dim [verb (transitive)] > reduce the brightness of
to turn down1855
to dim out1942
1942 Amer. Speech 17 204/2 The city was dimmed-out.
1945 Daily Express 20 Apr. 1/8 Street lighting need no longer be dimmed out.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
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n.21478adj.n.1adv.a1000v.a1300
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