twilight
/ˈtwaɪˌlaɪt/noun, adjective, verb
twilight is spelled T-W-I-L-I-G-H-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, twilight means “The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of twilight is twilights.
How many letters and syllables are in twilight?
| Letters | 8: T-W-I-L-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.6 times per million words; the 9,313th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is twilight?
Twilight appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce twilight?
- /ˈtwaɪˌlaɪt/
Twilight has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-twilight.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of twilight
- twilights plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- twilighting participle, present
- twilit participle, past
- twilighted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does twilight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.
Near-synonym: half-light
- 2
The time when said light is visible; the period between daylight and darkness.
It was twilight by the time I got back home.
- 3
Any faint light through which something is seen.
- 4
The time when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon.
- 5
An in-between or fading condition through which something is perceived.
The twilight of one's life
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to or resembling twilight; faintly illuminated; obscure.
- 2
Synonym of mesopelagic (“Describing the pelagic zone of the ocean between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones, characterized by very minimal light.”)
twilight zone
verb
- 1
To illuminate faintly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Twilight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | demi-jour, crépuscule , entre chien et loup , pénombre, brumes |
| German | Zwielicht, Dämmerung , Abenddämmerung , Halbdunkel |
| Portuguese | crepúsculo, lusco-fusco , penumbra, meia-luz |
| Spanish | crepúsculo , penumbra |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does twilight come from?
From Middle English twilight, twyelyghte, equivalent to twi- (“double, half-”) + light, literally ‘second light, half-light’. Cognate to Scots twa licht, twylicht, twielicht (“twilight”), Low German twilecht, twelecht (“twilight”), Dutch tweelicht (“twilight, dusk”), German Zwielicht (“twilight, dusk”). Compare Old English twēone lēoht (“twilight”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).