murk

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an atmosphere in which visibility is reduced because of a cloud of some substance
  2. verb make dark, dim, or gloomy

Etymology

From Middle English merke, mirke, from Old English mirce, myrce (“dark, gloomy, evil”) and Old Norse myrkr (“dark, murky”), both from Proto-Germanic *merkuz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *mergʷ- (“to flicker; to darken; to be dark”). Cognate Danish mørk (“dark”), Norwegian mørk (“dark”), Swedish mörk (“dark”), Icelandic myrkur (“dark”), as also Albanian murg (“dark”), Proto-Slavic *morkъ (“darkness”), Lithuanian márgas (“multicolored”), murzinas (“dirty, spoiled”), Ancient Greek ἀμορβός (amorbós, “dark”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

fog, fogginess, murkiness

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