Etymology

tenebrous

ten·e·brous
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Today it means: Dark and gloomy; obscure. Full definition →

First used 15th c.Middle English tenebrose ← Anglo-Norman tenebrous ← Latin tenebrōsus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromtenebrōsus
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromtenebrous
  3. Middle English · inherited fromtenebrose
  4. English todaytenebrous

] From Middle English tenebrose, from Anglo-Norman tenebrous (earlier tenebrus), from Latin tenebrōsus, itself from tenebrae (“darkness, shadows”).

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishtenebrose all →

tenebrose

Latintenebrōsus all →

tenebrismtenebrose

First known use, by meaning

  • from 15th c. Dark and gloomy; obscure.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.