sunset
English Edit
Etymology Edit
From Middle English son-sett, Sonne set, equivalent to sun + set. In Gower's Confessio Amantis, before 1393.[1]
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
sunset (countable and uncountable, plural sunsets)
- The moment each evening when the sun disappears below the western horizon.
- at sunset
- 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
- ’Twas sunset: when the sun will part
There comes a sullenness of heart
To him who still would look upon
The glory of the summer sun.
- The changes in color of the sky before and after sunset.
- (figurative) The final period of the life of a person or thing.
- 1799, Thomas Campbell, Pleasure of Hope:
- 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore.
- one's sunset years
- (attributively) A set termination date.
- The tax increase legislation included a sunset clause requiring renewal to prevent the tax increase from expiring.
- The region where the sun sets; the west.
Synonyms Edit
- (time): dusk, sundown (US), nightfall, twilight; see also Thesaurus:dusk
- (change in color of the sky at sunset):
- (final period of life): end, final act, swansong
- (attributively: of or relating to the final period of life): last, terminal, twilight
Antonyms Edit
Derived terms Edit
Translations Edit
time of day
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changes in color of sky at sunset
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final period of life
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attributively: of or relating to the final period of life
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb Edit
sunset (third-person singular simple present sunsets, present participle sunsetting, simple past and past participle sunsetted)
- (business, politics, transitive) To phase out.
- We’ll be sunsetting version 1.9 of the software shortly after releasing version 2.0 next quarter.
- 2011 April 19, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, “Digital legacy: The fate of your online soul”, in NewScientist[1]:
- Last December, Yahoo announced plans to “sunset” more well-known services, including the pioneering social bookmarking service del.icio.us.
Translations Edit
See also Edit
References Edit
- ^ Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, Robert K. Barnhart (ed.), Chambers, 1988