twilight

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More hidden forms of two occur in twilight, zwieback, between, and betwixt, in which twi, zwie, tween, and twixt all mean ` two. '

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun The diffused light from the sky during the early evening or early morning when the sun is below the horizon and its light is refracted by the earth's atmosphere.
  2. noun The time of the day when the sun is just below the horizon, especially the period between sunset and dark.
  3. noun Dim or diffused illumination.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

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Examples

  • More hidden forms of two occur in twilight, zwieback, between, and betwixt, in which twi, zwie, tween, and twixt all mean ` two. ' —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XIV No 3
  • Thus, twilight is literally the ` time of two lights: the fading sunset and the emerging light of the moon and stars 'while the root sense of zwieback is ` twice baked.' —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XIV No 3
  • A man was never voted to be Master of his Crafthall unless he had more than a glorious baritone voice to recommend him to his fellow Masters. —  Nerilka's Story
  • Ivan, the name of the Fourth Evangelist, the one beloved of the Lord. —  Enchantment
  • Diogenes tried it, but pronounced it rather too much like candles to be very palatable south of Labrador or Kamtschatka Supper over, the sun had set, and the only work that remained for the twilight was the gathering of the fuel to feed the fires during the coming night Daylight faded away, the moon rose, and the gay chat by the fireside being exhausted, a silence, profound, and unbroken save by the crackling flames, fell upon the quiet, gray old forest. —  The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy
 

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Words tagged twilight

aloof · angel · anxious · beautiful · chagrin · chuckle · coherent · crimson · dazzle · perfect · sparkle · marble · smolder · kismet · grimace · glorious

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Twilight has been looked up 642 times, favorited 6 times, listed 130 times, and commented on 7 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

dusk ·  gloom ·  dawn ·  mist ·  sunset ·  moonlight ·  stillness ·  haze ·  sky ·  chill ·  glow ·  daylight
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English twilighte : Old English twi-, two, half; see dwo- in Indo-European roots + Old English līht, light; see light1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also twylight; from Middle English twilight, twyelyghte = Low German twilecht = German zwielicht (cf. Middle High German zwischenlieht); from twi- + light.
  2. from twilight, n. The form of the past participle in the second quotation is irregular.
 

Pronunciations
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/ˈtwaɪlaɪt/
by American Heritage

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