暗闇

See also: 暗暗

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
暗	闇
くら Grade: 3	やみ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Compound of 暗 (kura, “dark”, combining form used in compounds, stem of adjective 暗い (kurai, “dark”)) +‎ 闇 (yami, “darkness, absence of light; night”, noun, derived from verb 止む (yamu, “cease, halt, stop”)).^[1]^[2]

First cited to around 1007.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) くらやみ [kùráyámí] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ɾa̠ja̠mʲi]

Noun

暗(くら)闇(やみ) • (kurayami)

[circa 1007] darkness, the dark, complete absence of light; a dark place
Synonyms: 暗がり (kuragari), 暗黒 (ankoku)
[early 1200s] (figuratively) public chaos, disorder in the world
- prior to 1330, The Tale of the Heike, book 2:
  天(てん)下(か)くらやみと成(な)ったりしに
  tenka kurayami to nattarishi ni
  the world had fallen into darkness / disorder
an unknown or hidden place
[1862] (figuratively) jail, prison
[1911] (figuratively) psychological depression

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
暗	闇
くれ Grade: 3	やみ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Compound of 暗 (kure, “darkening”, stem of verb 暗れる (kureru, “to darken, to become dark”)) +‎ 闇 (yami, “darkness, absence of light; night”, noun, derived from verb 止む (yamu, “cease, halt, stop”)).^[1]

First cited to roughly 1014.^[1]

May be obsolete. Not listed in various dictionaries.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ɾe̞ja̠mʲi]

Noun

暗(くれ)闇(やみ) • (kureyami)

[circa 1014] (figuratively, possibly obsolete) psychological distress, the state of being at a loss

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 3.0 ^3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJS-5] Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

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