Etymograph

English

dusk

Dusk comes from Middle English dosk ‘dusky’, from Old English dox ‘dark, swarthy’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwes- ‘to smoke, fume’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰwes-‘to smoke, fume’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duskaz‘dark, smoky’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dox‘dark, swarthy’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dosk‘dusky’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1671dusk

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰwes-‘to smoke, fume’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duskaz‘dark, smoky’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dox‘dark, swarthy’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dosk‘dusky’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1671dusk

Earliest quotation: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “A pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰwes- ‘to smoke, fume’

dear, dizzy, fuscous, 7 more

Another origin of dusk

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150doxian‘to become dark in color’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dusken‘to become or make dark or dusky’
  3. Englishtodaydusk

Today it means

adj Tending to darkness or blackness; moderately dark or black; dusky.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰwes- / dusk

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