Etymograph

English

darkness

Darkness comes from Old English deorcnes ‘darkness, obscurity’, from deorc ‘dark’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg-o-s.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰerg-o-s1uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*derkaz1uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*derk2‘dark’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150deorc3‘dark’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150deorcnes4‘darkness, obscurity’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500derknesse4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1850darkness4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *derk
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English deorc
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English deorcnes
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English darkness
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, [Alfred, Canto XXXIV: “My own dim life should teach me this, ⁠That…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰerg-o-sWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *derkuncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*derkazWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *derkuncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*derkWiktionary, Old English deorc‘dark’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150deorcWiktionary, Old English deorcnes‘dark’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150deorcnesWiktionary, English darkness‘darkness, obscurity’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500derknesseWiktionary, English darkness
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1850darknessWiktionary, English darkness. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, [Alfred, Canto XXXIV: “My own dim life should teach me this, ⁠That…”

Formed from dark + -ness

Proto-West Germanic *derk

Old English deorc

Middle English derk

English dark

Linked words

through Proto-West Germanic *derk ‘dark’

darken, 1 more

through Old English deorc ‘dark’

darkly, 1 more

Today it means

noun The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “darkness”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-West Germanic *derk, Old English deorc, Old English deorcnes. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg-o-s / darkness

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