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dusk

 - 4 dictionary results

dusk

1[duhsk]
–noun
1. the state or period of partial darkness between day and night; the dark part of twilight.
2. partial darkness; shade; gloom: She was barely visible in the dusk of the room.

Origin:
1615–25; back formation from dusky

dusk

2[duhsk]
–adjective
1. tending to darkness; dark.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
2. to make or become dusk; darken.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME duske (adj.), dusken (v.); metathetic alter. of OE dox dusky, doxian to turn dark; c. L. fuscus dark


duskish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To dusk
dusk   (dŭsk)   
n.  The darker stage of twilight, especially in the evening.
adj.  Tending to darkness; dusky.
intr. & tr.v.   dusked, dusk·ing, dusks
To become or make dark or dusky.

[From Middle English, dark, alteration of Old English dox.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

dusk 
O.E. dox "dark-haired, dark from the absence of light" (cognate with Swed. duska "be misty," L. fuscus "dark," Skt. dhusarah "dust-colored"). Modern form is perhaps via a Northumbrian variant. A color word originally; the sense of "twilight" is recorded from 1622.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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