dim
Translingual
English
Etymology
From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰem- (“to whisk, smoke, blow; dust, haze, cloud; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur, Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: dĭm, IPA(key): /dɪm/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪm
Adjective
dim (comparative dimmer, superlative dimmest)
- Not bright or colorful.
- The lighting was too dim for me to make out his facial features.
- Shelley, Adonais
- that sustaining Love / Which, through the web of being blindly wove / By man and beast and earth and air and sea, / Burns bright or dim
- (colloquial) Not smart or intelligent.
- He may be a bit dim, but he's not retarded.
- Indistinct, hazy or unclear.
- His vision grew dimmer as he aged.
- Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.
Translations
not bright, not colourful
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not smart
indistinct
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
dim (third-person singular simple present dims, present participle dimming, simple past and past participle dimmed)
- (transitive) To make something less bright.
- He dimmed the lights and put on soft music.
- (intransitive) To become darker.
- The lights dimmed briefly when the air conditioning was turned on.
- To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct; to take away the luster of; to darken; to dull; to obscure; to eclipse.
- Dryden
- a king among his courtiers, who dims all his attendants
- Cowper
- Now set the sun, and twilight dimmed the ways.
- Dryden
- To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.
- C. Pitt
- Her starry eyes were dimmed with streaming tears.
- C. Pitt
Translations
to make something less bright
Indonesian
Latvian
Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian Nynorsk
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *dymъ, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós (“smoke”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dîm/
Declension
Derived terms
- dimni signal
Slovene
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *dymъ, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós (“smoke”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdím/
- Tonal orthography: dı̏m
Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɪm/
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