Word of the Day

: June 1, 2009

tenebrous

adjective TEN-uh-brus

What It Means

1 : shut off from the light : dark, murky

2 : hard to understand : obscure

3 : causing gloom

tenebrous in Context

"A zigzag line of windows … cuts up from the base of the building, bringing light into its once-tenebrous interior." (Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post, September 28, 2008)

Did You Know?

"Tenebrous" means "obscure" or "murky," but there's nothing unclear about its history. Etymologists know that the word derives from the Latin noun "tenebrae," which means "darkness." "Tenebrous" has been used in English since the 15th century, and in the 20th century it was joined by some interesting relations. "Tenebrionid" is the name of a nocturnal beetle that is usually dark-colored and is also called a "darkling beetle." "Tenebrism" refers to a style of painting -- associated with the Italian painter Caravaggio -- in which most of the figures are engulfed in shadow but some are dramatically illuminated by concentrated light.