cimmerian

See also: Cimmerian

English

Etymology

From Cimmerian.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sɪˈmɪəɹ.ɪ.ən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /sɪˈmɪɹ.i.ən/
• Rhymes: -ɪəɹɪən, -ɪɹiən

Adjective

cimmerian (comparative more cimmerian, superlative most cimmerian)

1. (poetic) perpetually dark or gloomy
   • 1631, Milton, L'Allegro:

     There, under ebon shades... in dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.

   • 1740, George Frideric Handel, Charles Jennens, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato:

     As ragged as thy locks,
     In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.

   • 1820, Thomas Love Peacock, The Four Ages of Poetry:

     ...the darkness of antiquated barbarism, in which he buries himself like a mole, to throw up the barren hillocks of his Cimmerian labours.

   • 1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter VI, [1]

     The glimpse of blue vault far above only heightened the cimmerian gloom of the canyon, and the frowning rocks, which rose abruptly gave one the impression that they were on the point of crashing into the ravine.

2. (figuratively) mentally dark; ignorant
   • 1770, Baron D'Holbach, The System of Nature:

     The source of man’s unhappiness is his ignorance of Nature.... To remove this Cimmerian darkness... requires the clue of Ariadne.

Derived terms

• cimmerianism
• cimmerianize

Translations

perpetually dark or gloomy

• German: kimmerisch