cimmerian means perpetually dark or gloomy.
cimmerian is pronounced /sɪˈmɪəɹ.ɪ.ən/.
Why “cimmerian” is a great word
Enveloped in profound and perpetual darkness or gloom, literal or metaphorical. From the Latin *Cimmerius*, from the Ancient Greek Κιμμέριος (Kimmérios), pertaining to the mythical Cimmerii, a people described by Homer as dwelling in a land of perpetual mist and darkness. Unlike "tenebrous," which suggests mere shadowy obscurity, or "dismal," which connotes circumstantial dreariness, Cimmerian implies an absolute, primal, and all-consuming shade. It is the fog that never lifts from a forgotten coast, the sunless cavern where no torch flame stirs the air, the ink-black veil drawn across a mind in deepest despair—not merely the absence of light, but its total and eternal abolition.
adj
- Perpetually dark or gloomy.e.g.“There, under ebon shades... in dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.”
- Mentally dark; ignorant; benighted.e.g.“The source of man’s unhappiness is his ignorance of Nature.... To remove this Cimmerian darkness... requires the clue of Ariadne.”
- Pertaining to the ancient Cimmerians.
- Characteristic of Cimmeria, especially in having particularly dense darkness etc.e.g.“there it sleepeth, here it slumbreth: more or lesse they are ever darknesses, yea Cimmerian darknesses.”
- related to the prehistoric continent of Cimmeria
name
- The language of the Cimmerians, possibly belonging to the Iranian branch.
noun
- Any of the mythical people supposed to inhabit a land of perpetual darkness.e.g.“The city, there, of the Cimmerians stands
With clouds and darkness veil’d, on whom the sun
Deigns not to look with his beam-darting eye,”
- One of the Cimmerii, ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin.e.g.“Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian
Doth make your honour of his body's hue,
Spotted, detested, and abominable.”
- The prophetic priestess presiding over the Apollonian Oracle at Cimmerium in Italy.
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