Sunsetting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The daily event when the sun moves below the horizon in the evening, marking the end of daylight ; the gradual process of discontinuing or ending an initiative, law, or program, often according to a set schedule
2. The natural occurrence of the sun setting, causing twilight and the onset of night ; the deliberate winding down or termination of something such as a regulation or project, usually planned in advance
3. The evening phenomenon where the sun disappears from view, signaling the close of the day ; the methodical retiring or ending of a system, policy, or activity as part of a planned cessation

Etymology: "Sunsetting" is the present participle of "sunset," so its story begins with the sun itself. The noun "sunset" came into English from Middle English "sonne settynge," literally "sun setting," a phrase describing the sun sinking below the horizon. Its use as a verb, meaning to bring something to a planned end, is a much later extension of that image: a product, rule or service is allowed to "go down" like the sun at a set time. The modern sense of phasing something out gradually, rather than cutting it off at once, grew from the idea of an event with a fixed, known endpoint. Where "sunset" once described only the evening sky, it now describes the deliberate winding down of software, laws or programmes.

Synonyms: dimming, fading, declining, setting, disappearing

Antonyms: rising, ascending, emerging, increasing, growing