暗闇

See also: 暗暗

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
暗	闇
くら Grade: 3	やみ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Compound of 暗 (kura, “dark”, combining form used in compounds, stem of adjective 暗い (kurai, “dark”)) +‎ 闇 (yami, “darkness, absence of light; night”, noun, derived from verb 止む (yamu, “cease, halt, stop”)).

First cited to around 1007.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くらやみ [kùráyámí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝɾa̠ja̠mʲi]

Noun

暗(くら)闇(やみ) • (kurayami) 

1. [circa 1007] darkness, the dark, complete absence of light; a dark place

   Synonyms: 暗がり (kuragari), 暗黒 (ankoku)

2. [early 1200s] (figuratively) public chaos, disorder in the world
   • prior to 1330, The Tale of the Heike, book 2:

     天(てん)下(か)くらやみと成(な)ったりしに

     tenka kurayami to nattarishi ni

     the world had fallen into darkness / disorder

3. an unknown or hidden place
4. [1862] (figuratively) jail, prison
5. [1911] (figuratively) psychological depression

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
暗	闇
くれ Grade: 3	やみ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Compound of 暗 (kure, “darkening”, stem of verb 暗れる (kureru, “to darken, to become dark”)) +‎ 闇 (yami, “darkness, absence of light; night”, noun, derived from verb 止む (yamu, “cease, halt, stop”)).

First cited to roughly 1014.

May be obsolete. Not listed in various dictionaries.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝɾe̞ja̠mʲi]

Noun

暗(くれ)闇(やみ) • (kureyami) 

1. [circa 1014] (figuratively, possibly obsolete) psychological distress, the state of being at a loss