mirk
[murk]
- murk.
murk
or mirk
[murk]
- darkness; gloom: the murk of a foggy night.
- Archaic. dark; murky.
Origin of murk
before 900; Middle English mirke, myrke < Old Norse myrkr dark, darkness, replacing Old English myrce dark
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mirk
Historical Examples
Or catch'd wi' warlocks i' the mirk, By Alloway's auld haunted kirk.
The Book of Humorous VerseVarious
With this Prince Mirk spurred the mare, and at once reached the tent.
And Mirk told her that he was a prince, and had come to see the Princess of Doghead.
Mirk was frightened, and quickly dipped his little finger into the bottle.
Bring a candle, the grand staircase is as mirk as a yule midnight.
The Centenary GarlandAnonymous
mirk
- a variant spelling of murk 1
murk1
mirk
- gloomy darkness
- an archaic variant of murky
Word Origin
C13: probably from Old Norse myrkr darkness; compare Old English mirce dark
murk2
- to murder (a person)
- to defeat (a team) convincingly
Word Origin
C20: of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for mirk
murk
n
c.1300, myrke, from Old Norse myrkr "darkness," from Proto-Germanic *merkwjo- (cf. Old English mirce "murky, black, dark; murkiness, darkness," Danish mǿrk "darkness," Old Saxon mirki "dark"); cognate with Old Church Slavonic mraku, Serbo-Croatian mrak, Russian mrak "darkness;" Lithuanian merkti "shut the eyes, blink," from PIE *mer- "to flicker" (see morn). Murk Monday was long the name in Scotland for the great solar eclipse of March 29, 1652 (April 8, New Style).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper