twilight

CEFRB2

/ˈtwaɪˌlaɪt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The soft light in the sky just after sunset or before sunrise.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any faint light through which something is seen.

Examples

  • There was eternal twilight in the place.

  • We find ourselves in the twilight of our civilization.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The time when said light is visible; the period between daylight and darkness.

  2. The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.

  3. The time when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon.

More examples

In context

  • I could just make out her face in the twilight.

  • It was twilight by the time I got back home.

  • Near-synonym: half-light

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The sky was still glowing red during the blank, just after the sun had set.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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”).