Darkness definition

Darkness





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4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Darkness \Dark"ness\, n.
     1. The absence of light; blackness; obscurity; gloom.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And darkness was upon the face of the deep. --Gen.
                                                    i. 2.


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     2. A state of privacy; secrecy.
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              What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light.
                                                    --Matt. x. 27.
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     3. A state of ignorance or error, especially on moral or
        religious subjects; hence, wickedness; impurity.
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              Men loved darkness rather than light, because their
              deeds were evil.                      --John. iii.
                                                    19.
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              Pursue these sons of darkness: drive them out
              From all heaven's bounds.             --Milton.
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     4. Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity; as, the
        darkness of a subject, or of a discussion.
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     5. A state of distress or trouble.
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              A day of clouds and of thick darkness. --Joel. ii.
                                                    2.
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     {Prince of darkness}, the Devil; Satan. "In the power of the
        Prince of darkness." --Locke.
  
     Syn: {Darkness}, {Dimness}, {Obscurity}, {Gloom}.
  
     Usage: Darkness arises from a total, and dimness from a
            partial, want of light. A thing is obscure when so
            overclouded or covered as not to be easily perceived.
            As tha shade or obscurity increases, it deepens into
            gloom. What is dark is hidden from view; what is
            obscure is difficult to perceive or penetrate; the eye
            becomes dim with age; an impending storm fills the
            atmosphere with gloom. When taken figuratively, these
            words have a like use; as, the darkness of ignorance;
            dimness of discernment; obscurity of reasoning; gloom
            of superstition.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  darkness
       n 1: absence of light or illumination [syn: {dark}] [ant: {light}]
       2: an unilluminated area; "he moved off into the darkness"
          [syn: {dark}, {shadow}]
       3: absence of moral or spiritual values; "the powers of
          darkness" [syn: {iniquity}, {wickedness}, {dark}]
       4: an unenlightened state; "he was in the dark concerning their
          intentions"; "his lectures dispelled the darkness" [syn: {dark}]
       5: having a dark or somber color [ant: {lightness}]
       6: a swarthy complexion [syn: {duskiness}, {swarthiness}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  129 Moby Thesaurus words for "darkness":
     Gothicism, ablepsia, adiaphanousness, age of ignorance, amaurosis,
     amorphousness, barbarism, benightedness, benightment, blackishness,
     blackness, bleakness, bleariness, blind side, blind spot,
     blindfolding, blinding, blindness, blur, blurriness,
     blurring the eyes, cataract, cecity, cloudiness, dark, dark age,
     dark of night, darkishness, darksomeness, defocus,
     depriving of sight, dim-sightedness, dimness, dismalness,
     dreariness, drop serene, duskiness, duskness, economic blindness,
     ever-during dark, excecation, eyelessness, faintness, feebleness,
     filminess, fog, fogginess, funereality, fuzziness, glaucoma, gloom,
     gloominess, graveness, gravity, grimness, gutta serena,
     half-visibility, haziness, heathenism, hoodwinking,
     imperviousness to light, indefiniteness, indeterminateness,
     indistinctness, indistinguishability, intransparency,
     lack of vision, low profile, making blind, mist, mistiness,
     mumbo jumbo, murk, murkiness, mystification, night, nighttide,
     nighttime, niphablepsia, obfuscation, obscurantism, obscuration,
     obscurity, opacity, opaque, opaqueness, paganism, paleness,
     partial blindness, perplexity, psychic blindness, reduced sight,
     roil, roiledness, sable night, sadness, savagery, semivisibility,
     shadowiness, shapelessness, sightless eyes, sightlessness,
     snow blindness, soberness, sobriety, soft focus, solemnity,
     somberness, soul-blindness, spiritual blindness, stone-blindness,
     swarth, swarthiness, swartness, total blindness, trachoma,
     turbidity, turbidness, uncertainty, unclarity, unclearness,
     unenlightenment, unplainness, unseeingness, vague appearance,
     vagueness, weakness, wearifulness, wearisomeness
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Darkness
     The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Ex. 10:21) is
     described as darkness "which may be felt." It covered "all the
     land of Egypt," so that "they saw not one another." It did not
     extend to the land of Goshen (ver. 23).
     
       When Jesus hung upon the cross (Matt. 27:45; Luke 23:44), from
     the "sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the
     ninth hour."
     
       On Mount Sinai, Moses (Ex. 20:21) "drew near unto the thick
     darkness where God was." This was the "thick cloud upon the
     mount" in which Jehovah was when he spake unto Moses there. The
     Lord dwelt in the cloud upon the mercy-seat (1 Kings 8:12), the
     cloud of glory. When the psalmist (Ps. 97:2) describes the
     inscrutable nature of God's workings among the sons of men, he
     says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." God dwells in
     thick darkness.
     
       Darkness (Isa. 13:9, 10; Matt. 24:29) also is a symbol of the
     judgments that attend on the coming of the Lord. It is a symbol
     of misery and adversity (Job 18:6; Ps. 107:10; Isa. 8:22; Ezek.
     30:18). The "day of darkness" in Joel 2:2, caused by clouds of
     locusts, is a symbol of the obscurity which overhangs all divine
     proceedings. "Works of darkness" are impure actions (Eph. 5:11).
     "Outer darkness" refers to the darkness of the streets in the
     East, which are never lighted up by any public or private lamps
     after nightfall, in contrast with the blaze of cheerful light in
     the house. It is also a symbol of ignorance (Isa. 9:2; 60:2;
     Matt. 6:23) and of death (Job 10:21; 17:13).
     

















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