English Explanatory Dictionary

gloaming

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Twilight, as at early morning (dawn) or (especially) early evening; dusk.
  2. Sullenness; melancholy.
verb
  1. present participle and gerund of gloam

Pronunciation

/ˈɡləʊ.mɪŋ/ /ˈɡloʊ.mɪŋ/ en-us-gloaming.ogg

Word forms

gloaming gloamings

Etymology

From a dialectal variant of glooming, from Middle English *gloming, from Old English glōmung, from Old English glōm (“twilight”). By surface analysis, gloom + -ing. Related to glow. The OED notes: "The vowel of the modern gloaming is anomalous, as Old English glōmung should normally become glooming. The explanation is probably that the ō was shortened in the compound ǣfen-glommung (as the spelling seems to show was actually the case), and that from this compound there was evolved a new subject glŏmung, which by normal phonetic development became Middle English glǭming, modern English gloaming."

Synonyms

crepuscule glooming vespers blue hour crepusculum dimmet evenglome gloaming tweenlight twilight misery sadness sorrow woe

Antonyms

daytime daylight nighttime darkness
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