English → Latin
“twilight” in Latin
dubiusMoving in two directions alternately, vibrating to and fro, fluctuating, wavering; Vacillating in mind, wavering, uncertobscūrusdark, dusky, shadowy; indistinct, unintelligible, obscure; intricate, involved, complicateddīlūculumdaybreak, dawncrepusculumtwilight, dusk; darkness; doubttenebraedarkness, especially the darkness of night; shadow of death; prison, dungeon
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
twilight
lux incerta or dubia (poetical): lumen incertum or obscurum. In the cold zones there prevails only a kind of twilight, from the frozen snow, in zonis frigidis maligna est ac pruina tantum albicans lux (Plin., 2, 68, 68): it was already seven o’clock, and there was still only a feeble twilight, jam hora diei prima, et adhuc dubius et quasi languidus dies (Plin., Ep., 6, 20, 6). Morning twilight, diluculum: evening twilight, crepusculum (the proper word): tenebrae (shades of evening).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for twilight?
- The usual Latin words for “twilight” are dubius, obscūrus, dīlūculum; also crepusculum, tenebrae. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.