What does "twilight" mean?

1. (time of day) the time of day when the sun is below the horizon and the sky is starting to get dark. 2. (faint light) the soft, dim light that you see in the sky just after the sun goes down. 3. (a final period) the final part of something, like a career or a period of history, when it is starting to fade. 4. (dimly lit) describing something that is dimly lit or related to the time of dusk.

twilight

US //ˈtwaɪˌɫaɪt// UK //twˈaɪlaɪt// twi·light

1 time of day (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

the time of day when the sun is below the horizon and the sky is starting to get dark.

the period of time between daylight and darkness, specifically when the sun is below the horizon but its rays still illuminate the atmosphere.

Example

We went for a walk in the garden during the long summer twilight.

Example

The hikers struggled to find the trail markers in the deepening twilight, eventually deciding to set up camp before total darkness fell.
- daylight
- noon
2 faint light (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

the soft, dim light that you see in the sky just after the sun goes down.

the diffused light from the sky during the period before sunrise or after sunset.

Example

The mountains looked purple in the soft twilight of the evening.

Example

The photographer captured the cathedral's silhouette against the ethereal twilight, using a long exposure to pull detail from the shadows.
- half light
- dimness
- brightness
- glare

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3 a final period (n.)
C1 Advanced Literary

the final part of something, like a career or a period of history, when it is starting to fade.

a period of decline or the final stages of something once great or powerful.

Example

The famous actor spent the twilight of his life living quietly by the sea.

Example

In the twilight of the empire, administrative corruption and economic instability became increasingly difficult for the central government to manage.
4 dimly lit (adj.)
C1 Advanced Literary

describing something that is dimly lit or related to the time of dusk.

pertaining to or resembling the light conditions of dusk; often used to describe obscure or intermediate states.

Example

They sat in the twilight room, watching the shadows grow longer on the wall.

Example

The novel explores the twilight world of international espionage, where loyalties are never clear and the truth is always obscured.
- bright
- sunny

Origin

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”).

Idioms3 entries