tenebra

From Latin tenebra.

tenebra f (plural tenebre)

1. darkness, gloom, night

• Used especially in the plural

• nerbate

Arose by dissimilation from earlier *temebrai, arisen from Proto-Italic *temasro, from Proto-Indo-European *temH-s-ro (“dark”), a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *temH- (“dark”); cognate with Sanskrit तमिस्र (tamisra), Avestan 𐬙𐬄𐬚𐬭𐬀‎ (tąθra), Middle Persian [script needed] (tʾr /tār/, “darkness”) and Ossetian тар (tar).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈte.ne.bra/, [ˈtɛ.nɛ.bra]

tenebra f (genitive tenebrae); first declension

1. (in the plural) darkness, shadow, gloom, obscurity
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Genesis.1.2:

     terra autem erat inanis et vacua et tenebrae super faciem abyssi et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas

     And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

2. ignorance
3. concealment

Almost always used in the plural rather than the singular.

First declension.

• French: ténèbres
  • → Romanian: tenebră
• English: tenebrose, tenebrous
• Galician: tebras
• Italian: tenebra
• Portuguese: treva, tênebra
• Spanish: tiniebla

• tenebra in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• tenebra in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “tenebrae”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 512