dark ages

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Dark Ages^¹

/ˈdɑːˌkeɪd͡ʒɪz/

Where it comes from

The phrase appears in writing of the English Reformation by Richard Sibbes (1620) and by George Abbot (1624), the archbishop of Canterbury. Both authors use it to refer to the period of papal supremacy before the Reformation. The earliest citation in Oxford English Dictionary is dated 1687. Use is specific to English therefore not likely to be from Latin.

proper noun the Dark Ages · Dark Age · dark Ages · dark ages · darke ages

The period of European history encompassing (roughly) 476–1000 CE. There is one very real sense in which the Dark Ages were the brightest of times, and it is this: that they were times of defined and definite duties and freedoms.
Similar: Early Middle Ages
The Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100–750 BCE).
The dark ages of Cambodia (c. 1450–1863).
The dark ages of Laos (c. 1707–1893).
The Dark Ages, 380 thousand to about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
figuratively Any relatively primitive period of time. It is clear that many linguists view connectionism as a revival of the radical empiricist approach that dominated the dark ages in psychology—the behaviourist era.

dark ages^²

noun the dark ages

plural, plural only Alternative letter-case form of Dark Ages

noun

plural plural of dark age

dark Ages^³

proper noun the dark Ages

Alternative letter-case form of Dark Ages

Translations

Every language

name historic period

Español	Edad Oscura
한국어	암흑기 amheukgi, 암흑시대 amheuksidae
日本語	暗黒時代 ankoku jidai
हिन्दी	अंधकार काल andhkār kāl
Português	Idade das Trevas
Français	siècles obscurs
Deutsch	Dunkle Jahrhunderte, das finstere Mittelalter
العربية	اَلْعُصُورُ الْمُظْلِمَةُ al-ʕuṣūru l-muẓlimatu

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MLA

"dark ages." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dark%20ages. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dark ages. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dark%20ages

Chicago

"dark ages." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dark%20ages.

BibTeX

@misc{dark_ages_2026,
  title = {dark ages},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dark%20ages},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}