twilight

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the time of day immediately following sunset
  2. noun the diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon but its rays are refracted by the atmosphere of the earth
  3. noun a condition of decline following successes

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twilight, twyelyghte, equivalent to twi- (“double, half-”) + light, literally ‘second light, half-light’. Cognate to Scots twa licht, twylicht, twielicht (“twilight”), Low German twilecht, twelecht (“twilight”), Dutch tweelicht (“twilight, dusk”), German Zwielicht (“twilight, dusk”). Compare Old English twēone lēoht (“twilight”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

dusk, gloaming, gloam, nightfall, evenfall, fall, crepuscule, crepuscle

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