A while ago I wrote about the seasons changing and asked if anyone had a word that described the time between when the sky begins to lighten and when the sun is up in the morning....a word similar to twilight for the darkening light in the evening.
BillO left this comment on the post: "My dictionary says that twilight can be in the morning or in the evening. The time between first light and sunrise in the morning is defined as twilight. The time between sunset and dark is also twilight. Maybe they could be distinguished as "twilight of the dawn" or "twilight of the dusk".
BillO, I was looking at a an on-line limited edition dictionary which didn't give me this extended meaning. So I'm glad to know that twilight can also mean that inbetween time in the morning but I don't think I can use it that way. In my mind's eye, it just doesn't work. Aren't words strange. It isn't just the letters or the sound of the word but the "picture it brings to mind." When I think of twilight I think of the lowering light of evening.
And we wonder why we have so much trouble communicating with each other. It isn't just the dictionary meaning. Is is also the meaning that the other person's brain associates with that sound or that group of letters.
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1 comment:
I've always liked the word "gloaming" although it does seem to only be for the evening twilight.
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