darken

darken (ˈdɑːkən)

—vb
1.	to make or become dark or darker
2.	to make or become gloomy, angry, or sad: his mood darkened
3.	(usually used with a negative) darken someone's door to visit someone: never darken my door again!

'darkener

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

darken

c. 1300, "to make dark;" late 14c., "to become dark." The more usual verb in M.E. was simply dark, as it is in Chaucer and Shakespeare, and darken did not predominate until 17c. The Anglo-Saxons also had a useful verb, sweorcan, meaning "to grow dark." To darken someone's door (usually with a negative)

is attested from 1729.

Example sentences

As the skies darken, temperatures on the ground plummet and the majority of

existing plant and animal species perish.

The circles under her eyes darken, the general pallor increases.

When it lands on snow it can significantly darken it, so that glaciers absorb

more sunlight and are warmed.

The summer waned to its close, and through myriad silent stages began to darken

into autumn.

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Matching Quote

"The Renaissance was, as much as anything, a revolt from the logic of the Middle Ages. We speak of the Renaissance as the birth of rationalism; it was in many ways the birth of irrationalism. It is true that the medieval Schoolmen, who had produced the finest logic that the world has ever seen, had in later years produced more logic than the world can ever be expected to stand. They had loaded and lumbered up the world with libraries of mere logic; and some effort was bound to be made to free it from such endless chains of deduction. Therefore, there was in the Renaissance a wild touch of revolt, not against religion but against reason.... When all is said, there is something a little sinister in the number of mad people in Shakespeare. We say that he uses his fools to brighten the dark background of tragedy; I think he sometimes uses them to darken it."

-Gilbert Keith Chesterton