twilight

== English == === Etymology === 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”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtwaɪˌlaɪt/ === Noun === twilight (countable and uncountable, plural twilights) 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. Near-synonym: half-light The time when said light is visible; the period between daylight and darkness. Hyponyms: dawn, dusk Any faint light through which something is seen. (astronomy) The time when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon. (figurative, by extension) An in-between or fading condition through which something is perceived. , Book IV, Chapter XIV The twilight […] of probability. ==== Synonyms ==== (period between daylight and darkness): blue hour, gloaming; see also Thesaurus:twilight ==== Hypernyms ==== light ==== Hyponyms ==== (period between daylight and darkness): cockcrow, first light / evenfall, eventide; see also Thesaurus:dawn and Thesaurus:dusk ==== Hyponyms ==== astronomical twilight civil twilight nautical twilight ==== Coordinate terms ==== dawn (end of ~ in the morning) dusk (end of ~ in the evening) evening golden hour nightfall sundown ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === twilight (not comparable) Pertaining to or resembling twilight; faintly illuminated; obscure. Synonym of mesopelagic (“Describing the pelagic zone of the ocean between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones, characterized by very minimal light.”) ==== See also ==== crepuscular === Verb === twilight (third-person singular simple present twilights, present participle twilighting, simple past and past participle twilit or twilighted) (transitive, poetic) To illuminate faintly.