different between dim vs darken

Translingual

Symbol

dim

1. (mathematics) dimension

English

Etymology

From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?em- (“to whisk, smoke, blow; dust, haze, cloud; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur, Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: d?m, IPA^(key): /d?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Adjective

dim (comparative dimmer, superlative dimmest)

1. Not bright or colorful.

   The lighting was too dim for me to make out his facial features.

   • 1821, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Adonais

     that sustaining Love / Which, through the web of being blindly wove / By man and beast and earth and air and sea, / Burns bright or dim

2. (colloquial) Not smart or intelligent.

   He may be a bit dim, but he's not stupid.

3. Indistinct, hazy or unclear.

   His vision grew dimmer as he aged.

4. Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.
5. (music) Clipping of diminished.

Translations

Noun

dim (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Dimness.

Verb

dim (third-person singular simple present dims, present participle dimming, simple past and past participle dimmed)

1. (transitive) To make something less bright.

   He dimmed the lights and put on soft music.

2. (intransitive) To become darker.

   The lights dimmed briefly when the air conditioning was turned on.

3. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     a king among his courtiers, […] who out to dim the lustre of all his attendants

   • 1791, William Cowper, The Odyssey of Homer

     Now set the sun, and twilight dimm'd the ways.

4. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.
   • 1740, Christopher Pitt, The Aeneid

     Her starry eyes were dimm'd with streaming tears.

Derived terms

• bedim
• dimly
• dimmer (noun)

Translations

Anagrams

• DMI, IDM, IM'd, IMD, MDI, MID, Mid., mid, mid-

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?d?m]
• Hyphenation: dim

Etymology 1

From Dutch duim.

Noun

dim (first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. thumb
2. inch

   Synonym: inci

Etymology 2

From English dimmer.

Noun

dim (first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. high-beam headlamp on a road vehicle.

Further reading

• “dim” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Latvian

Verb

dim

1. 3rd person singular present indicative form of dim?t
2. 3rd person plural present indicative form of dim?t
3. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of dim?t
4. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of dim?t

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse dimmr. Related to English dim and Icelandic dimmur.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmere, indefinite superlative dimmest, definite superlative dimmeste)

1. dim
2. to have bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

References

• “dim” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From the Old Norse adjective dimmr, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz. The neuter noun is derived from the adjective. The automotive senses may be a Back-formation from - of the verb dimme.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmare, indefinite superlative dimmast, definite superlative dimmaste)

1. gloomy
2. dim
3. having bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

Related terms

• dimma, dimme (verb)

Noun 1

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (automotive, colloquial) a switching of one's headlamps from high-beam to low-beam
2. (automotive, colloquial) lever, button or other
3. (dialectal) Clipping of dimme (“twilight, half darkness”).

Noun 2

dim n (definite singular dimmet, uncountable)

1. (dialectal) dimmest, darkest part of the summer night
2. (dialectal) twilight

   Synonym: skumring

Etymology 2

Noun

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (colloquial) Clipping of dimensjon.

References

• “dim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• mid-

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dym?, from Proto-Indo-European *d?uh?mós (“smoke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dîm/

Noun

d?m m (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. smoke

Declension

Derived terms

• dimni signal

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dym?, from Proto-Indo-European *d?uh?mós (“smoke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dím/

Noun

d?m m inan

1. smoke

Inflection

Further reading

• “dim”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?m/

Adjective

dim

1. any
2. no, not, none

Noun

dim m (uncountable)

1. anything
2. nothing, none, nil, zero

Particle

dim

1. not

Usage notes

As a verbal particle, almost always appears mutated as ddim.

Mutation

English

Etymology

From Middle English derkenen, dirkenen, from Old English *deorcnian, *diercnian (“to darken”), from Proto-West Germanic *dirkin?n (“to darken”), equivalent to dark +? -en.

Cognate with Scots derken, durken (“to darken”), Old High German tarchanjan, terchinen (“to darken”), Middle High German terken, derken (“to darken”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d??k?n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d??k?n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)k?n

Verb

darken (third-person singular simple present darkens, present participle darkening, simple past and past participle darkened)

1. (transitive) To make dark or darker by reducing light.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Exodus 10.15,^[1]

     […] they [locusts] covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened […]

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 6, lines 56-58,^[2]

     So spake the Sovran voice, and Clouds began

     To darken all the Hill […]

2. (intransitive) To become dark or darker (having less light).
   • 1783, William Blake, “The Couch of Death” in Richard Herne Shepherd (ed.) Poetical Sketches, London: Basil Montagu Pickering, 1868, p. 84,^[3]

     […] the owl and the bat flew round the darkening trees:

   • 1930, Zane Grey, The Shepherd of Guadeloupe, Chapter Twelve,^[4]

     […] leaning at her window she watched the end of that eventful day darken over the ranges.

3. (impersonal) To get dark (referring to the sky, either in the evening or as a result of cloud).
   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter 15,^[5]

     Well, I must go in now; and you too: it darkens.

   • 1901, William Stearns Davis, A Friend of Cæsar, New York: Macmillan, Chapter 4, p. 57,^[6]

     Then they passed out from the Forum, forced their way through the crowded streets, and soon were through the Porta Ratumena, outside the walls, and struck out across the Campus Martius, upon the Via Flaminia. It was rapidly darkening.

   • 1945, Gertrude Stein, Wars I Have Seen, London: B.T. Batsford, p. 13,^[7]

     From babyhood until fourteen, to play in a garden in the evening when it is darkening is a legend.

   • 1996, Colm Tóibín, “Portrait of the Artist as a Spring Lamb” in Colm Tóibín (ed.), The Kilfenora Teaboy: A Study of Paul Durcan, Dublin: New Island Books, p. 7,^[8]

     It had been fine all morning, but it was darkening now, the weather was going to get worse.

   • 2005, David Almond, Clay, London: Hodder Literature, Chapter Ten, p. 44,^[9]

     He looked up. It was darkening here as well. Sky getting red, the edge of the quarry dark and jagged against it.

4. (transitive) To make dark or darker in colour.
   • 2009, Alice Munro, “Free Radicals” in Too Much Happiness, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, p. 118,

     She puts on lipstick and darkens her eyebrows, which are now very scanty […]

5. (intransitive) To become dark or darker in colour.
   • 1979, Mary Stewart, The Last Enchantment, New York: Fawcett Crest, Book 4, Chapter 4, p. 405,^[10]

     The lovely hair had lost its rose-gold glimmer, and had darkened to rose-brown […]

6. (transitive) To render gloomy, darker in mood.
   • c. 1610, William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, Act IV, Scene 4,^[11]

     With these forced thoughts, I prithee, darken not

     The mirth o’ the feast.

   • 1969, Chaim Potok, The Promise, New York: Fawcett Crest, 1872, Chapter Four, p. 89,^[12]

     It was a pleasure seeing you again. I’m only sorry I had to darken the pleasure with my private problems.

7. (intransitive) To become gloomy, darker in mood.
   • 1797, Ann Radcliffe, The Italian, London: T. Cadell Jun[ior] and W. Davies, Volume 2, Chapter 9, p. 303,^[13]

     His countenance darkened while he spoke […]

   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1986, “Mrs. Crane,” p. 42,^[14]

     Alice’s big eyes darkened with trouble.

8. (transitive) To blind, impair the eyesight.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Romans 9.10,^[15]

     Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see […]

   • 1773, Samuel Johnson, letter to James Boswell dated 5 July, 1773, in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, Volume I, London: Charles Dilly, p. 424,^[16]

     When your letter came to me, I was so darkened by an inflammation in my eye, that I could not for some time read it.

9. (intransitive) To be blinded, lose one’s eyesight.
10. (transitive) To cloud, obscure, or perplex; to render less clear or intelligible.
    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Job 38.2,^[17]

      Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

    • 1629, Francis Bacon, The historie of the reigne of King Henry the Seuenth, London: I. Haviland and R. Young, ^[18]

      […] such was his wisdome, as his Confidence did seldome darken his Fore-sight […]

    • 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 121, 14 May, 1751, Volume 4, London: J. Payne & J. Bouquet, p. 193,^[19]

      His [Edmund Spenser’s] stile was in his own time allowed to be vicious, so darkened with old words and peculiarities of phrase, and so remote from common use, that Johnson boldly pronounces him to have written no language.

11. (transitive) To make foul; to sully; to tarnish.
    • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act I, Scene 4,^[20]

      I must not think there are

      Evils enow to darken all his goodness:

Conjugation

Synonyms

• blacken

Derived terms

• bedarken
• darkener
• darken someone's door

Related terms

• dark

Translations

Anagrams

• Kendra, danker, de-rank, derank, endark, kendra, narked, ranked