If "gloaming" makes you think of tartans and bagpipes, well lads and lasses, you've got a good ear and a good eye; we picked up "gloaming" from the Scottish dialects of English back in the Middle Ages. The roots of the word trace to the Old English word for twilight, "glÅm," which is akin to "glÅwan," an Old English verb meaning "to glow." In the early 1800s, English speakers looked to Scotland again and borrowed the now-archaic verb gloam, meaning "to become twilight" or "to grow dark."
Examples of gloaming in a Sentence
lovers would often retreat to the gloaming of the park's many secluded recesses to steal a kiss
with the gloaming came the familiar call of the whip-poor-will
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gloaming.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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First Known Use of gloaming
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
History and Etymology for gloaming
Middle English (Scots) gloming, from Old English glÅming, from glÅm twilight; akin to Old English glÅwan to glow