English
tenebral
Tenebral may come from Latin tenebrae ‘darkness, especially the darkness of night’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtenebraeas tenebra‘darkness, especially the darkness of night’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1898tenebral
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtenebraeas tenebra‘darkness, especially the darkness of night’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1898tenebral
Earliest quotation: 1898, The Medical Brief: A Monthly Journal of : “[…] thou tenebral speck of foul negation : […]”
Formed from -al
The story
Apparently from Latin tenebra + -al; compare taxonomic Latin tenebralis.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *temH- ‘to be dark’
through Proto-Indo-European *témHos ‘darkness’
Today it means
adj Profoundly dark.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin tenebrae / tenebral