Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DARK, a. [Sax. deorc; Ir. dorcha; Pers. تِيَره tirah, dark; تَأَرِيْک tarik, dark, darkness. See Class Dr, No. 15.]

1. Destitute of light; obscure. A dark atmosphere is one which prevents vision.
2. Wholly or partially black; having the quality opposite to white; as, a dark color or substance.
3. Gloomy; disheartening: having unfavorable prospects; as, a dark time in political affairs. There is, in every true woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. – Irving.
4. Obscure; not easily understood or explained; as, a dark passage in an author; a dark saying.
5. Mysterious; as, the ways of Providence are often dark to human reason.
6. Not enlightened with knowledge; destitute of learning and science; rude; ignorant; as, a dark age.
7. Not vivid; partially black. – Lev. xiii.
8. Blind. [Not in use.] Dryden.
9. Gloomy; not cheerful; as, a dark temper. – Addison.
10. Obscure; concealed; secret; not understood; as, a dark design.
11. Unclean; foul. – Milton.
12. Opake. But dark and opake are not synonymous. Chalk is opake, but not dark.
13. Keeping designs concealed. The dark unrelenting Tiberius. – Gibbon.