Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Darken |
DarkenVerb1. Become dark or darker; "The sky darkened". 2. Become or make darker; "The screen darkend"; "He darkened the colors by adding brown". 3. Tarnish or stain: "a scandal that darkened the family's good name". 4. Make dark or darker; "darken a room". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "darken" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Note: Darken \Dark"en\ (d[aum]rk"'n), transitive verb. [imperfect & past participle. Darkened(-'nd); Darkening(-n*[i^]ng).]. (references) |
Synonym: DarkenSynonym: dim (v). (additional references) |
| Antonym: brighten (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Unintelligibility | Render unintelligible; Adjective: conceal; darken; confuse; (derange); perplex; (bewilder) |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Darken |
| English words defined with "darken": Abraum salts ♦ black out, blacken out ♦ embrown, Endark, eyebrow pencil, eyeshadow ♦ Imbrown, Incloud, infuscate, Inturbidate, Inumbrate ♦ kohl ♦ mascara ♦ Obumbrate, Opacate ♦ Window shutter. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "darken": Daylights ♦ ENGRAVER, PANTOGRAPH II ♦ Key ♦ photochromic dye, photochromic material ♦ Raisins ♦ WELDING-MACHINE OPERATOR, ELECTRON BEAM. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "darken": Scotomy. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'll give you a complete physical, head to toe, then you leave and never darken my doorstep again (Northern Exposure; writing credit: Khadijah Hashim) You oughta wait here and set this sucker straight, boy. You are the true champion of all existence, and shudder the petulant worm who dares darken your brain with ridicule (Kevin Spencer; writing credit: Rick Kaulbars; Greg Lawrence) | |
Lyrics | Blacken your eyes, darken your soul (Too Beautiful; performing artist: Heart) I'm not trying to darken up your day (THIS ONE'S FOR THE CHILDREN; performing artist: New Kids On The Block) | |
Clever | Why does the sun lighten our hair but darken our skin? (references; author: unknown) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
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| "Random 3" by A D Commentary: "Darken and add more contrast: becomes very striking. I would've done it for you, but I'm too lazy." | "Old building and cathedral" by Adam Kurzok Commentary: "Bit darken picture of traffic square, good lights:) free to use, just click my site www.creactive.cz ." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Gamaliel Bailey | The firefly only shines when on the wing; so it is with the mind; when we rest we darken. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | A bitter emotion came to darken their joy over the redeemed barricade |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Your skin may darken. (references) | |
As the large majority of women (the traditional source of informal care) enter the workforce, as marital arrangements become more diverse and less stable, and as the birthrate falls (producing fewer children to provide both economic support and direct care), the prospects of continuing to rely heavily on informal care darken. (references) | ||
Effects on Skin and Nails You may have minor skin problems while you are having chemotherapy, such as redness, rashes, itching, peeling, dryness, acne, and increased sensitivity to the sun. Certain anticancer drugs, when given intravenously, may cause the skin all along the vein to darken, especially in people who have very dark skin. Some people use makeup to cover the area, but this can take a lot of time if several veins are affected. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Darken" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 56.73% of the time. "Darken" is used about 104 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 56.73% | 59 | 44,010 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 43.27% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Total | 100.00% | 104 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "darken": don't darken my door ♦ never darken my door again!. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
darken | 6 |
darken hair naturally | 2 |
darken skin | 2 |
darken mascara | 2 |
darken skye | 2 |
darken grout | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "darken"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | verboj (blind, dazzle, Seel), prish (alloy, annul, baffle, blast, blow, botch, break, cancel, collapse, consume, corrode, corrupt, damn, debase, debauch, deface, deflower, denounce, deprave, derogate, destroy, deteriorate, disarrange, disestablish, dissipate, dissolve, fester, fritter, frustrate, go, gum up, infringe, injure, mammock, mess, misguide, misspend, nip, obliterate, pervert, pollute, pull down, quash, queer, rot, ruin, shatter, sophisticate, spend, split, spoil, stymie, take away, thwack, trouble, undo, unmake, unsettle, upset, violate, vitiate, warp, wear, wreck, zap), ngrysem (darkle, lour), ngrys (pass, scowl), mugëllon, errësoj (adumbrate, becloud, bedim, black out, blur, dim, dusk, eclipse, fog, obfuscate, obscure, overshadow, shadow), bëj i errët. (various references) | |
Arabic | كفهر (frown, grow dark, scowl), غمض (shut), حزن (afflict, aggrieve, anger, bale, be sorrowful, be sorry, cloud, crack, depress, depression, distress, doldrums, gloom, grief, grieve, gripe, heartache, melancholy, pain, sadden, sadness, sadness pain, sorrow), عتم (blackout, cloud, dip, dull, obfuscate, obscure, overcast, overshadow), عبس بوجهه, عبس (frown, gloom, grow dark, lour, scowl, sulk), إكتأب (ache, brood, gloom), أصبح قاتما, ظلم (abuse, aggrieve, eclipse, extortion, gloom, grind, grow dark, inequality, inequity, iniquity, injustice, oppress, oppression, shadow, tyrannize, unfairness, wrong). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | опетнявам (attaint, besmirch, imbrue, maculate, mire, pollute, smirch, smudge, soil, spot, stain, sully, tarnish), затъмнявам (adumbrate, becloud, black out, cloud, eclipse, obscure, occult, outshine, out-top, shade, shadow), притъмнявам (overcloud), потъмнявам (blacken, darkle, discolour, film over, grow dark, lower, overcloud, tarnish), помръквам (become gloomy, become overcast, lower, wan), помрачавам се (grow dark), помрачавам (alloy, bedim, cloud, dim, dull, dusk, eclipse, nip, obfuscate, obscure, overshadow, shade, shadow, trouble). (various references) | |
Chinese | 變黑 , 變暗 , 弄暗 (Darkened, Darkening). (various references) | |
Czech | ztmavnout, zatemnit (black out, darkle, dim out, obfuscate, obscure, overcloud), zastřít (becloud, cover, disguise, mantle), zasmušit se, poplést (become confused, confuse, embarrass, jumble, maze, obfuscate, perplex, puzzle), kabonit se (frown). (various references) | |
Danish | at støve (to become cloudy, to darken, to dull, to haze). (various references) | |
Dutch | versomberen, donker worden. (various references) | |
Esperanto | malheliĝi. (various references) | |
Finnish | tummeta (become dark), tummentaa, synkistyttää (cast a gloom over, make gloomy), synkistää (cast a gloom over, make gloomy), sumentaa (cloud, dim, obscure, shroud in mist), samentaa (cloud, make muddy, trouble), pimittää (cheat, dim, obscure, withhold information on one's income), pimetä (be obscured, grow dark), pimentää (obscure), himmenntää (blur, dim, dip the lights, eclipse, obscure, outshine, screen off, stop down). (various references) | |
French | se rembrunir, rendre triste (damp), obscurcis, obscurcir (make dark), noircir, foncer (go darker, make dark, make darker), attrister, assombrissons, assombrissez, assombris, assombrir. (various references) | |
German | verdunkeln (becloud, black out, damage, deepen, dim, dim out, eclipse, harm, obscure, suppress, to darken), dunkeln (reconditely, swarthy). (various references) | |
Greek | σκοτεινιάζω (get dark, haze, lour), αμαυρώνω (black, blacken, blemish, blot, stain, tarnish). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לקדור (grow dark), לעמום (dim, obscure), לעמעם (blur, dim, mute, obscure, overlook, tarnish), לאפל, להקדיר (obscure), להעיב (cloud, obscure, overcloud), להחשיך (become dark), להאפיל (blackout, eclipse, obfuscate, obscure, overshadow, shade), להכהות (make dark, tarnish). (various references) | |
Hungarian | elsötétít (eclipse, obfuscate, overcast, to darken, to eclipse, to overcast), beárnyékol (overshadow, shade in, shadow, to adumbrate, to darken, to overshadow, to shadow, to up-stage). (various references) | |
Indonesian | menggelapkan (embezzle, obscure), menggelapi, mengelamkan, memburamkan (becloud). (various references) | |
Italian | oscurare (become obscure, black out, blacken, blind, dim, obscure, overcast, overshadow, shade, shadow). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 遮光 (shade). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | しゃこう (inclined shaft, pretence, shade, slanting rays of light, social intercourse, social life, speculation). (various references) | |
Korean | 어두워지십시요. (various references) | |
Manx | scaaghey (overshadow, shade, shadow), jannoo dorraghey (bedim, blear), dullyrnee, dooghey (black, blacken, ink). (various references) | |
Norwegian | mørkne. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arkenday.(various references) | |
Portuguese | toldar (blear, haze, mist, obfuscate, overcast, shadow), obscurecer (befog, blot, blur, cloud, dim, dusk, fog, gloom, haze, lour, obfuscate, obscure, overcast, overshadow, sadden, shadow, thicken), escurecer (cloud, darkle, dim, dusk, gloom, overcloud), escureça. (various references) | |
Romanian | se întuneca (cloud up, darkle, dull, get dark, glower, grow dark, lour, scowl). (various references) | |
Russian | темнеть (darkle, get dark, grow dark, lour). (various references) | |
Scottish | dubh (black, blot out, dark). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zamračiti (becloud, black out, cloud, obfuscate, obscure), potamneti (bedim), osenčiti (shade). (various references) | |
Spanish | oscurecer (becloud, cloud, confuse, deepen, dim, fog, grow dark, obfuscate, obscure, overcloud, shade, shadow, tarnish). (various references) | |
Swedish | mörkna (get dark, lower, overcast), förmörka (cloud, eclipse, gloom, obfuscate, obscure, occult, overcast). (various references) | |
Thai | ไปให้พ้นและอย่าโผล่มาให้เห็นอีก (never darken my door again), ่ไปให้พ้นและอย่ากลับมาอีก (never darken my door again). (various references) | |
Turkish | koyulaştırmak (coagulate, deepen, enrich, intensify, stiffen, thicken), koyulaşmak (become darker, coagulate, condense, deepen, thicken), karartmak (becloud, bedim, befog, black, blacken, blackout, cloud, dim, dim out, fade, fade out, fog, lour, lower, obfuscate, obscure, shadow), kararmak (blacken, dim, get dark, grow dark, lour, tarnish), karıştırmak (add, admix, amalgamate, blend, churn, commingle, commix, complicate, concoct, confound, confuse, diffuse, disarrange, disarray, discompose, disconcert, disorder, disorganize, disturb, embroil, entangle, ferret about, foul, foul up, hash, implicate, interfuse, interlace, interlard, intermingle, intermix, involve, inweave, jumble, jumble together, jumble up, knot, litter, make hay of smth., meld, mess, mess smth. about, mess up, mingle, mistake, mix, mix up, monkey around with, monkey with, muddle, muss, pick, poke, poke up, Ravel, ruffle, scramble, scramble together, scramble up, shuffle, snarl, stir, stir up, tamper with, tangle, tousle, trim, tumble, unsettle, weave), bulandırmak (blur, cloud, dim, muddy, trouble, turn, upset). (various references) | |
Turkmen | garaсkyramak. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | робити темним (dark), засліплювати (dazzle, unsight), затьмарювати (alloy, begloom, blear, cloud, eclipse, obfuscate, obscure, outdazzle, overcast, overcloud, overshade, overshadow, overtop, shade, shadow, shine down), затемнювати (adumbrate, bedarken, bedim, blind, deface, dim out, obfuscate, obscure, obumbrate, overshadow). (various references) | |
Welsh | tywyllu (blacken, obscure), caddugo (obscure). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | caligo, fusca, obscura, obscurabitur, obscurabuntur, obscuraretur, obscurat, obscuratae, obscurati, obscuratum, obscuratus, obscuraverit, obscuravit, obscurent, obscurentur, obscuro, obtenebrata, obtenebrati, obtenebratus, obtenebrentur, obumbrabit, obumbrans, obumbrantia, obumbrasti, obumbraverunt, obumbravit. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | nipan. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Amos Chapter 8, Verse 9 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai estai en ekeinh th hmera legei kurioV o qeoV kai dusetai o hlioV meshmbriaV kai suskotasei epi thV ghV en hmera to fwV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et erit in die illa dicit Dominus occidet sol meridie et tenebrescere faciam terram in die luminis |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And it shal be, saith the Lord, in that day the sunne shal go dounn in mydday, and Y shal make the erthe for to be derk in day of liyt. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And it will come about in that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down in the middle of the day, and I will make the earth dark in daylight: |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Amos Chapter 8, Verse 9 |
| Albanian | Atë ditë do të ndodhë", thotë Zoti, Zoti, "që unë do ta bëj diellin të perëndojë në mesditë dhe do ta errësoj tokën ditën. |
| Cebuano | Ug mahitabo niadtong adlawa, nagaingon ang Ginoong Jehova: Ang adlaw akong pasalupon sa kaudtohon, ug akong pangitngitan ang yuta sa matin-aw nga adlaw. |
| Chinese | 主 耶 和 華 說 、 到 那 日 、 我 必 使 日 頭 在 午 間 落 下 、 使 地 在 白 晝 黑 暗 。 |
| Croatian | "Toga æu dana - rijeè je Jahve Gospoda - uèiniti da sunce zapadne u podne, i pomraèit æu zemlju u po bijela dana. |
| Danish | På hin Dag lader jeg det ske, så lyder det fra den Herre HERREN, at Solen går ned ved Middag, og Jorden bliver mørk ved højlys Dag. |
| Dutch | En het zal te dien dage geschieden, spreekt de Heere HEERE, dat Ik de zon op den middag zal doen ondergaan, en het land bij lichten dage verduisteren. |
| Finnish | Ja on tapahtuva sinä päivänä, sanoo Herra, Herra, että minä annan auringon laskea sydänpäivällä ja teen maan pimeäksi keskellä kirkasta päivää. |
| French | En ce jour-là, dit le Seigneur, l`Éternel, Je ferai coucher le soleil à midi, Et j`obscurcirai la terre en plein jour; |
| German | Zur selben Zeit, spricht der HERR HERR, will ich die Sonne am Mittag untergehen lassen und das Land am hellen Tage lassen finster werden. |
| Hungarian | És lészen azon a napon, azt mondja az Úr Isten: Lenyugtatom a napot délben, és besötétítem a földet fényes nappal. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Akan tiba saatnya Aku membuat matahari terbenam di tengah hari dan bumi menjadi gelap pada waktu siang. Aku, TUHAN Yang Mahatinggi, telah berbicara. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka akan jadi pada hari itu juga, demikianlah firman Tuhan Hua, Aku akan mengadakan bahwa matahari masuk pada waktu lohor dan Aku menggelapkan tanah pada siang hari. |
| Maori | Na i taua ra, e ai ta te Ariki, ta Ihowa, ka meinga e ahau te ra kia toene i te awatea, a ka pouri i ahau te whenua i te mea e marama ana ano te ra: |
| Norwegian | Og det skal skje på den dag, sier Herren, Israels Gud, at jeg vil la solen gå ned om middagen og gjøre det mørkt på jorden ved høilys dag. |
| Portuguese | E sucederá, naquele dia, diz o Senhor Deus, que farei que o sol se ponha ao meio dia, e em pleno dia cobrirei a terra de trevas. |
| Rumanian | Kn ziua aceea, zice Domnul Dumnezeu, voi face sq asfinyeascq soarele la amiazq, wi voi kntuneca pqmkntul ziua nqmeaza mare. |
| Spanish | Sucederá en aquel día, dice el Señor Jehovah, que haré que el sol se oculte al medio día; y en pleno día haré que la tierra sea cubierta de tinieblas. |
| Swedish | Och det skall ske på den dagen, säger Herren, HERREN, att jag skall låta solen gå ned i dess middagsglans och låta jorden sjunka i mörker mitt på ljusa dagen. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "darken": darkened, darkener, darkeners, darkening, darkens. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "darken": bedarken. (additional references) | |
Words containing "darken": bedarkened, bedarkening, bedarkens. (additional references) | |
| |
"Darken" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: arkan, arken, daikon, dalkin, danken, d'arco, Dareen, darka, darke, darked, darkend, Darkes, Darkey, Darku, darlen, darren, Darwent, Dawkin, Daykin, decken, Deken, Denken, derden, Deren, Derwen, diakrino, diken, dirke, dirkel, Dirksen, doken, Dokken, doren, Dorken, drachen, Draken, Drakon, dranken, Drazen, drke, duken, Marken, Parken. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "darken" (pronounced dÄ"rkun) |
| 5 | -Ä" r k u n | harken. |
| 3 | -k u n | falcon, awaken, bacon, beacon, beckon, blacken, bracken, broken, chicken, deacon, drunken, forsaken, gascon, heartbroken, housebroken, interleukin, lichen, liken, Macon, misspoken, mistaken, outspoken, overtaken, Pekin, pelican, Pipkin, pumpkin, quicken, reawaken, reckon, republican, retaken, second, shaken, shrunken, sicken, silicon, slacken, spoken, stricken, sunken, taken, thicken, token, unbroken, undertaken, unshaken, unspoken, waken, weaken, woken, zircon. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: danker, narked, ranked. | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-e-k-n-r" | |
-1 letter: denar, drake, drank, knead, naked, raked, redan. | |
-2 letters: dank, dare, dark, darn, dean, dear, drek, earn, kane, karn, kern, knar, nard, nark, near, nerd, rake, rand, rank, read, rend. | |
-3 letters: and, ane, are, ark, dak, den, ear, end, era, ern, kae, kea, ken, nae, rad, ran, red. | |
-4 letters: ad, ae, an, ar, de, ed. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-e-k-n-r" | |
+1 letter: cranked, darkens, franked, knarred, kneader, nakeder, pranked, rankled, unraked. | |
+2 letters: bedarken, cankered, crankled, dakerhen, darkened, darkener, darkness, hankered, harkened, kidnaper, kneaders, mandrake, redshank, unbraked, unmarked, unranked. | |
+3 letters: bedarkens, breakdown, dackering, daikering, dakerhens, darkeners, darkening, debarking, demarking, drawknife, drinkable, hearkened, kidnapers, kidnapper, knackered, mandrakes, outranked, overdrank, ransacked, redshanks, rewakened, snakebird, sneakered, spikenard, uncracked, undertake, windbreak. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Digital Art 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Bible Trace 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
