Meanings
- dateduncountableVery intense darkness; pitch darkness.
'An Egyptian darkness,' Demyan Lukich remarked, lifting the blind a little.
1970, Margarete Orga, editor, The House on the Fontanka, Kimber, page 671 more example
Except for the shaft of light thrown by her own headlamps, the darkness was Egyptian.
1933, Dorothy Sayers, Murder Must Advertise, Harcourt, Brace, page 146
Origin
From Egyptian (adjective) + darkness, referring to the ninth of the ten Plagues of Egypt which God inflicted on the Egyptians to convince the Pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites, described in Exodus 10:21–23 of the Bible (King James Version, spelling modernized): “And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven: and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ظلام دامس
- ظلام دامس (ẓalām dāmis)very intense darkness (cognates) — see also pitch darkness
Hindi घोर अंधकार
- घोर अंधकार (ghor andhkār)very intense darkness (cognates) — see also pitch darkness
Japanese 暗黒
- 暗黒 (ankoku)very intense darkness (cognates) — see also pitch darkness
Polish egipskie ciemności
- egipskie ciemnościvery intense darkness (cognates) — see also pitch darkness
Russian тьма еги́петская
- тьма еги́петская (tʹma jegípetskaja)very intense darkness (cognates) — see also pitch darkness
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Egyptian darkness
All rhymes →Cite this entry
Egyptian darkness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Egyptian%20darkness
“Egyptian darkness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Egyptian%20darkness. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Egyptian darkness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Egyptian%20darkness.
Source: Egyptian darkness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.