What does the word twilight mean, and how can it be used in a sentence? This article will cover the meaning of twilight and its usage.
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Kevin
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March 7, 2022
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Twilight might be associated with a popular series of books and movies, but what does this word actually mean? This article will cover the meaning of the word twilight, it the origin, example sentences, translations, synonyms, antonyms, and more!
What Does the Word Twilight Mean?
According to Collins English Dictionary, the noun twilight refers to a period of soft diffused light following sunset, when the sun is just below the horizon. The sun is required to be in a different position for civil twilight, nautical twilight, and astronomical twilight, which can be confusing.
Twilight can also be used in a couple of other ways. It can mean any faint light or soft light. It can also refer to a period of waning or the ending of an era or life, such as a terminal period or state of uncertainty and vagueness.
What Is the Origin of Twilight?
According to Dictionary, the word twilight has been used since the Middle English twilighte. This comes from the Old English twi, meaning half, and the word light, from the Old English līht. This comes from the Indo-European root dwo. The word twilight is related to the German zwielicht and Dutch tweelicht.
How Can We Use Twilight in a Sentence?
The word twilight can be used in a literal or a metaphorical sense. When you take a look at example sentences containing twilight, see if you can determine which of these uses are literal and which are metaphorical.
A literal usage of twilight refers to the time of day, while a metaphorical use of the word twilight refers to the end or waning period of something:
We ran around the field during the twilight period after the setting of the sun. The illumination of the earth was beautiful in this early evening time of day.
In the twilight era of the presidency, his glory was in a condition of decline.
The astronomers observed the difference in the lower atmosphere and upper atmosphere during the morning twilight and evening twilight.
Twilight is my favorite time to do outdoor activities. It’s not too hot, but I can still see. I love taking dusky night rides on my horse. I hate when that time of the day ends because I know it is time for bed.
We looked for extraterrestrial objects in the twilight glow of the sky before the fall of night. The glow of the earth’s surface on the twilit river felt magical and had a very distinctive quality.
The painters grew to love the appearance of objects and the absence of shadows at the twilight blue hour at higher latitudes. There was no need for artificial light, but they could still paint glorious views of the twilight world.
The early morning glow of the rays on the earth’s atmosphere contrasted the direct rays of the sun at a later time of day and further contrasted twilight’s brightness.
What Are Translations of Twilight?
This time of day is not only spoken about in English, but also in numerous languages around the world. To learn translations of the word twilight, you can study this list of translations provided by Nice Translator.
Once you know the translations of the word twilight, you can communicate about this time of the day with many people worldwide:
- Hindi: सांझ
- Vietnamese: Hoàng hôn
- Slovenian: Twilz.
- Indonesian: senja
- Malayalam: നാട്ടുവെളിച്ചം
- Hungarian: szürkület
- Serbian: Сумрак
- Croatian: sumrak
- Malay: Twilight
- Thai: พลบค่ำ
- Portuguese (Portugal): crepúsculo
- Kannada: ಟ್ವಿಲೈಟ್
- Urdu: گودھولی
- Finnish: iltahämärä
- Korean: 어스름
- Gujarati: સંધિકાળ
- Welsh: twilight
- Danish: tusmørke
- Swedish: skymning
- Japanese: トワイライト
- Chinese (Taiwan): 暮
- Catalan: crepuscle
- Ukrainian: сутінки
- Turkish: alacakaranlık
- Slovak: twilight
- Estonian: hämarik
- Chinese (PRC): 暮
- Russian: сумерки
- Greek: λυκόφως
- Italian: crepuscolo
- Bengali: টুইলাইট
- Polish: zmierzch
- Spanish: crepúsculo
- Dutch: schemering
- Amharic: ትሑት
- French: crépuscule
- Arabic: الشفق
- Latvian: krēsla
- Hebrew: דמדומים
- Norwegian: skumring
- Telugu: ట్విలైట్
- German: Dämmerung
- Tamil: அந்தி
- Marathi: संध्याकाळ
- Basque: ilunabar
- Romanian: amurg
- Czech: soumrak
- Portuguese (Brazil): crepúsculo
What Are Synonyms of the Word Twilight?
Power Thesaurus provides a list of synonyms for the word twilight, which can be used in place of the word twilight. Synonyms are words with the same or similar definition as another word.
If you do not want your usage of the word twilight to be associated with popular series of books or movies, you might want to opt to use a synonym instead.
- autumn
- black
- blackness
- caliginosity
- candlelight
- cimmerian shade
- close of day
- crepuscle
- crepuscular
- crepuscule
- dark
- darkening
- darkling
- darkness
- dawn
- decline
- dim
- dimness
- dusk
- duskiness
- dusky
- ebb
- eve
- evenfall
- evening
- evenings
- eventide
- fall
- gloam
- gloaming
- gloom
- gloomy
- half-light
- late afternoon
- murk
- murkiness
- night
- nightfall
- nighttime
- obscure
- obscurity
- pitch darkness
- semidarkness
- shade
- shadow
- shadows
- shadowy
- shady
- sundown
- sunset
- tenebrosity
- twilit
- vesper
- waning
What Are Antonyms of the Word Twilight?
Power Thesaurus also lists many different antonyms of the word twilight.
- a.m.
- after daylight
- after midnight
- alb
- alba
- am
- ante meridiem
- antemeridian
- ass crack of dawn
- aubade
- aurora
- auroras
- beam of light
- before 12 o’clock
- before high noon
- before lunch
- before lunchtime
- before midday
- before noon
- bright light
- bright sunlight
- brilliant sunshine
- buttcrack of dawn
- cockcrow
- crack of dawn
- dawn
- dawning
- day
- daybreak
- daylight
- derivation
- forenoon
- light
- morn
- morning
- morning time
- predawn
- silvery sheen
- subdue
- sun
- sun is rising
- sunrise
- sunshine
- sunup
- wee hours
- wee small hours
Conclusion
The noun twilight refers to the period of the day just before it is fully dark outside but after the sun has already set below the horizon. This can also be used in a metaphorical sense to refer to the waning or ending of something.
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