Meanings
- uncountableThe state or quality of being tenebrose or tenebrous.
This tenebrosity of the interior, he proceeded to say, hath not been illumined by the wit of the septuagint nor so much as mentioned for the Orient from on high which brake hell’s gates visited a darkness that was foraneous.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 14: Oxen of the Sun]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 376
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latintenebrae“darkness”
- Old Frenchtenebrosité
- Middle Englishtenebrosite
- Englishtenebrosity
From Middle English tenebrosite, from Old French tenebrosité, ultimately from Latin tenebrae (“darkness”). Compare Medieval Latin tenebrōsitas, French ténébrosité. By surface analysis, tenebrose + -ity.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French ténèbres, ténébrosité
- ténèbresthe state of being tenebrous
- ténébrositéthe state of being tenebrous
Italian tenebrosità
- tenebrositàthe state of being tenebrous
Polish ciemność, ponurość
- ciemnośćthe state of being tenebrous
- ponurośćthe state of being tenebrous
Cite this entry
tenebrosity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tenebrosity
“tenebrosity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tenebrosity. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tenebrosity,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tenebrosity.
Source: tenebrosity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.