Meanings
noundark matter (uncountable)
- broadlyuncountableastronomyMatter which cannot be detected by its radiation but whose presence is inferred from gravitational effects.
On large scales like that of clusters of galaxies, gravitational lensing indicates that the dark matter is smoothly distributed, on the average.
2004, L. Bergström, A. Goobar, “Particle Astrophysics and the Dark Sector of the Universe”, in John W. Mason, editor, Astrophysics Update, pages 124–1251 more example
The evidence for dark matter in galaxies started to accumulate in the mid-1970s. By the following decade it became clear that essentially all galaxies, including our own Milky Way, are surrounded by extensive halos of dark matter.
2001, Susan M. Fitzpatrick, John T. Brue, Carving Our Destiny: Scientific Research Faces a New Millennium - particleuncountablestrictlyastronomyMatter which has mass but which does not readily interact with normal matter except through gravitational effects.
- informaluncountablebiologyUnclassified or poorly understood genetic material.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- GermanDunkle Materie
- Englishdark matter
Calque of German Dunkle Materie. The term gained new popularity in the 1970s as a result of Vera Rubin's publishing (in English) her discovery that some galaxies did not seem to have enough mass to account for their rotation curves.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans donker materie
- donker materieparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Arabic مَادَّة مَظْلِمَة
- مَادَّة مَظْلِمَة (mādda maẓlima)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Basque materia ilun
- materia ilunparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Bulgarian тъ́мна мате́рия
- тъ́мна мате́рия (tắmna matérija)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Catalan matèria fosca
- matèria foscaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Chinese Mandarin 暗物質 /暗物质
- 暗物質 /暗物质 (ànwùzhì)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Czech temná hmota
- temná hmotaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Danish mørkt stof, mørk materie
- mørkt stofparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- mørk materieparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Dutch donkere materie
- donkere materieparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Esperanto malluma materio
- malluma materioparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Estonian tumeaine
- tumeaineparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Finnish pimeä aine
- pimeä aineparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
French matière noire, matière sombre
- matière noireparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- matière sombreparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
German Dunkle Materie
- Dunkle Materieparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Greek σκοτεινή ύλη
- σκοτεινή ύλη (skoteiní ýli)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Hebrew חומר אפל
- חומר אפלparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Hungarian sötét anyag
- sötét anyagparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Icelandic hulduefni
- hulduefniparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Indonesian materi gelap
- materi gelapparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Irish damhna dorcha
- damhna dorchaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Italian materia oscura
- materia oscuraparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Japanese 暗黒物質, ダークマター
- 暗黒物質 (ankoku busshitsu)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- ダークマター (dākumatā)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Korean 암흑 물질
- 암흑 물질 (amheuk muljil)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Latvian tumšā matērija
- tumšā matērijaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Lithuanian tamsioji medžiaga, nematomoji medžiaga
- tamsioji medžiagaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- nematomoji medžiagaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- tamsioji materijaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Malay jirim gelap
- jirim gelapparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Norwegian mørk materie
- mørk materieparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Persian ماده تاریک
- ماده تاریک (mâdde-ye târik)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Polish ciemna materia
- ciemna materiaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Portuguese matéria escura, matéria negra
- matéria escuraparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- matéria negraparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Romanian materie întunecată
- materie întunecatăparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Russian тёмная мате́рия, скры́тая ма́сса
- тёмная мате́рия (tjómnaja matérija)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- скры́тая ма́сса (skrýtaja mássa)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Slovak tmavá hmota, temná hmota
- tmavá hmotaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
- temná hmotaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Spanish materia oscura
- materia oscuraparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Swedish mörk materia
- mörk materiaparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Thai สสารมืด
- สสารมืด (sàsăan mêut)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Turkish karanlık madde
- karanlık maddeparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Ukrainian тéмна матéрія
- тéмна матéрія (témna matérija)particles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Vietnamese vật chất tối
- vật chất tốiparticles of matter that cannot be detected by their radiation
Cite this entry
APA
dark matter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dark%20matter
MLA
“dark matter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dark%20matter. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dark matter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dark%20matter.
Source: dark matter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.