Duskinesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being dimly lit, especially at twilight; the state of having reduced light or visibility, often associated with the evening; a condition marked by shadows and lower illumination at the end of the day
2. A characteristic of reduced brightness typically observed during the time between sunset and the arrival of darkness; an aspect related to the decreasing light levels approaching nightfall; the nature of being partially darkened or obscured during twilight hours
3. The state of being dim or shadowy, notably when daylight fades; a feature denoting lower illumination in the early night; the attribute of having a muted light quality as night approaches

Etymology: "Duskinesses" is simply the plural of "duskiness," the state of being dusky. Duskiness is formed from the adjective "dusky" plus the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality. The adjective "dusky" traces back through Middle English and Old English to Proto-Germanic roots, where it was built on an element associated with dimness and darkness, and the plain Germanic suffix "-ness" (from Old English "-nes") has long been the standard way English names a quality or condition. The plural form is the less common part of the picture: English nouns of quality like "duskiness" are usually uncountable, so the plural appears mainly when writers want to speak of several distinct instances or kinds of dimness, such as the separate dusks of different evenings or different shades of shadow.