Meaning

12 senses
  1. (transitive)To make dark or darker by reducing light.

    затемнятьzatemnjatʹ

    make dark or darker

  2. (intransitive)To become dark or darker (having less light).

    become dark or darker

  3. (impersonal)To get dark (referring to the sky, either in the evening or as a result of cloud).

  4. (transitive)To make dark or darker in colour.

    затемнятьzatemnjatʹ

  5. (intransitive)To become dark or darker in colour.

    verdunkeln

    темне́тьtemnétʹ

  6. (transitive)To render gloomy, darker in mood.

  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, His countenance darkened while he spoke […]

  8. (transitive)To blind, impair the eyesight.

  9. (intransitive)To be blinded, lose one’s eyesight.

  10. (transitive)To cloud, obscure, or perplex; to render less clear or intelligible.

  11. (transitive)To make foul; to sully; to tarnish.

    tarnish or stain

  12. (intransitive)To be extinguished or deprived of vitality, to die.

Examples

37 sentences
  1. The sky suddenly began to darken.

    ruНебо внезапно начало темнеть. — Hayabusa

  2. The sky darkened, and it soon began to rain.

  3. Tom's expression darkened.

  4. Her eyes darkened.

    Її очі потемнішали. — deniko

    ruЕё глаза потемнели. — marafon

  5. The sky darkened.

    Небо потемнішало. — deniko

    ruНебо потемнело. — marafon

    deDer Himmel verdunkelte sich. — MUIRIEL

Translations

6 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
to become darker (less bright):
to make dark by reducing light:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to become darker (less bright):

Origin

From Middle English derkenen, dirkenen, from Old English *deorcnian, *diercnian (“to darke

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

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

darkens, darkening, darkened, darkened
Base formdarken · to darken
3rd person singulardarkens
Present participledarkening
Past simpledarkened
Past participledarkened

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theydarken
he, she, itdarkens

Past simpleLesson

all personsdarkened

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave darkened
he, she, ithas darkened

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill darken

Phrasal verbs

2 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

190 synonyms

Antonyms

2 antonyms

Word family

9 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
darken — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto