Word of the Day : February 27, 2018

tenebrous \TEN-uh-brus\ adjective

Definition

1 : shut off from the light : dark, murky

2 : hard to understand : obscure

3 : causing gloom

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.

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Aired February 27, 2018

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