Etymograph

English

twilight

Twilight comes from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘bright’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-‘bright’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twilight
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1846same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-‘bright’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twilight
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1846same form

Earliest quotation: 1846, – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens: “They have not enough heart,” said Edith, with a…”

Formed from twi- ‘double, half-’ + light

Proto-Indo-European *dwi- ‘two-, double-’

Proto-Germanic *twi- ‘two-, double-’

Proto-West Germanic *twi-

English twi-

Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘to shine’

…

Proto-Germanic *leuhtą

Proto-West Germanic *leuht ‘light’

Old English lēoht

Middle English light ‘light, illumination’

English light

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘bright’

low, los, link, lucy, ounce, lunar, luna, lea, lux, lucid, luminous, illumination, translucent, illuminate, lumen, lynx, luce, luminosity, lumia, lum, lune, loach, leucine, luminescent, luminary, luminal, 75 more

Today it means

noun The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewk- / twilight

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