Definition of TWILIGHT

twilight

Meanings

Plural: twilights

Noun

  • the time of day immediately following sunset
    • "he loved the twilight"
  • the diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon but its rays are refracted by the atmosphere of the earth
  • a condition of decline following successes
    • "in the twilight of the empire"
  • 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.
  • The time when said light is visible; the period between daylight and darkness.
  • Any faint light through which something is seen.
  • The time when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon.
  • An in-between or fading condition through which something is perceived.

Adjective Satellite

  • lighted by or as if by twilight; -Henry Fielding
    • "the twilight glow of the sky"

Adj

  • 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.”)

Verb

  • To illuminate faintly.

Origin / Etymology

PIE word
*dwóh₁
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”).

Scrabble Score: 15

twilight is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
twilight is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
twilight is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

twilight is a valid Words With Friends word