Darkness
nounThe total or partial absence of light.
How to spell darkness
8 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce darkness
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does darkness mean?
- nounThe total or partial absence of light.
Darkness in a sentence
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The power cut left the whole street in darkness.
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She fumbled for the torch in the darkness.
Where does darkness come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This word is rooted firmly in the Germanic side of English, built from the Old English adjective 'deorc', meaning gloomy, sombre, or lacking in light. To this was added the productive native suffix '-nes', which turned adjectives into abstract nouns naming a state or quality, giving the Old English form 'deorcnes'. The same '-ness' machinery still produces countless modern words such as kindness, happiness, and weakness. Over the centuries the spelling settled into 'darkness', and the only real spelling point to watch is the doubled consonant cluster where the root 'dark' meets the suffix, since the 'k' and the 'n' sit side by side. The word has carried both its literal meaning, the absence of light, and a figurative one, gloom or evil, since the medieval period.
How the word is built
- dark (Old English deorc: lacking light)
- -ness (state or quality noun suffix)
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