1. soft light from the sky between sunset and full night or just before sunrise; time of day characterized by faint sunlight; period of decline; faint light; vagueness. twilight\twi"light`\ , n. [oe. twilight, as. twi- (see:
twice) + le?ht light; hence the sense of doubtful or half light; cf. lg. twelecht, g. zwielicht. see:
light.].
2. the light perceived before the rising, and after the setting, of the sun, or when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon, occasioned by the illumination of the earth's atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.
3. faint light; a dubious or uncertain medium through which anything is viewed. as when the sun from behind the moon, in dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds. the twilight of probability.twilight \twi"light`\, a.
4. seen or done by twilight.
5. imperfectly illuminated; shaded; obscure. o'er the twilight groves and dusky caves.twilight lighted by or as if by twilight; "the dusky night rides down the sky/and ushers in the morn"-henry fielding; "the twilight glow of the sky"; "a boat on a twilit river" [syn: dusky, twilight(a) , twilit] n.
6. a state of diffused or dim illumination [syn: dusk].
7. the time of day immediately following sunset; "he loved the twilight"; "they finished before the fall of night" [syn: dusk, gloaming, nightfall, evenfall, fall].
8. the diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon but its rays are refracted by the atmosphere of the earth.
9. a condition of decline following successes; "in the twilight of the empire".
10. The light perceived before the rising, and after the setting, of the sun, or when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon, occasioned by the illumination of the earth's atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth. faint light; a dubious or uncertain medium through which anything is viewed.
11. Seen or done by twilight.
12. Imperfectly illuminated; shaded; obscure. the diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon but its rays are refracted by the atmosphere of the earth a condition of decline following successes; "in the twilight of the empire" the time of day immediately following sunset; "he loved the twilight"; "they finished before the fall of night".
13. 1. Twilight is the time just before night when the daylight has almost gone but when it is not completely dark. = dusk.
14. Twilight is the small amount of light that there is outside just after the sun has gone down. the deepening autumn twilight.
15. The twilight of a particular period of time is the final stages of it, when the most important events have already happened. Now both men are in the twilight of their careers.
16. A twilight state or a twilight zone is a situation of confusion or uncertainty, which seems to exist between two different states or categories. They fell into that twilight zone between military personnel and civilian employees.