dim

Translingual

Symbol

dim

1. (mathematics) dimension

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭm, IPA^(key): /dɪm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪm

Etymology 1

From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-West Germanic *dimm, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰem- (“to whisk, smoke; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur, Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).

Adjective

dim (comparative dimmer, superlative dimmest)

1. Not bright or colorful.

   Synonyms: dull, dingy; see also Thesaurus:dim

   The lighting was too dim for me to make out his facial features.

   • 1821, Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats, , Pisa, Italy: Didot; reprinted London: Noel Douglas , 1927, →OCLC:

     that sustaining Love / Which, through the web of being blindly wove / By man and beast and earth and air and sea, / Burns bright or dim

2. (colloquial) Not smart or intelligent.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stupid

   He may be a bit dim, but he's not entirely stupid.

3. Indistinct, hazy or unclear.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:indistinct

   His vision grew dimmer as he aged.

4. Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.

   Synonyms: deprecative, improbatory, reprobative, reprobatory

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

dim (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Dimness.
   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 278:

     All about me the Red Weed clambered among the ruins, writhing to get above me in the dim. Night, the Mother of Fear and Mystery, was coming upon me.

Verb

dim (third-person singular simple present dims, present participle dimming, simple past and past participle dimmed)

1. (transitive) To make something less bright.

   He dimmed the lights and put on soft music.

2. (intransitive) To become darker.

   The lights dimmed briefly when the air conditioning was turned on.

3. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct
   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, , London: J Heptinstall for W. Rogers, , →OCLC:

     a king among his courtiers, […] who out to dim the lustre of all his attendants

   • 1791, Homer, W[illiam] Cowper, transl., “[The Odyssey.] Book II.”, in The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, , volume II, London: J Johnson, , →OCLC, page 42, line 501:

     Now ſet the ſun, and twilight dimm'd the ways, […]

4. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:

     And with our Sun-bright armour as we march,
     Weel chaſe the Starrs from heauen, and dim their eies
     That ſtand and muſe at our admyred armes.

   • 1740, Christopher Pitt, The Aeneid:

     Her starry eyes were dimm'd with streaming tears.

Derived terms

• bedim
• dimmer (noun)

Translations

See also

• dim mak (etymologically unrelated)
• dim sum (etymologically unrelated)

Etymology 2

Adjective

dim (not comparable)

2. (music) Clipping of diminished.

See also

• dim. (diminuendo)

Anagrams

• DMI, IDM, IM'd, IMD, MDI, MID, Mid., mid, mid-

Galician

Verb

dim

1. (reintegrationist norm) third-person plural present indicative of dizer

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: dim

Etymology 1

From Dutch duim.

Noun

dim (first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. thumb
2. inch

   Synonym: inci

Etymology 2

From English dimmer.

Noun

dim (first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. high-beam headlamp on a road vehicle.

Further reading

• “dim” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Kashubian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *dymъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʲim/
• Syllabification: dim

Noun

dim

1. smoke

Further reading

• chapter DIM, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “dym”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎

Latvian

Verb

dim

1. third-person singular/plural present indicative of dimēt
2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of dimēt
3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of dimēt

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse dimmr. Related to English dim and Icelandic dimmur.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmere, indefinite superlative dimmest, definite superlative dimmeste)

1. dim
2. to have bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

References

• “dim” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From the Old Norse adjective dimmr, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz. The neuter noun is derived from the adjective. The automotive senses may be a Back-formation from - of the verb dimme.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmare, indefinite superlative dimmast, definite superlative dimmaste)

1. gloomy
2. dim
3. having bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

Related terms

• dimma, dimme (verb)

Noun

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (automotive, colloquial) a switching of one's headlamps from high-beam to low-beam
2. (automotive, colloquial) lever, button or other
3. (dialectal) Clipping of dimme (“twilight, half darkness”).

Noun

dim n (definite singular dimmet, uncountable)

1. (dialectal) dimmest, darkest part of the summer night
2. (dialectal) twilight

   Synonym: skumring

Etymology 2

Noun

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (colloquial) Clipping of dimensjon.

References

• “dim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• mid-

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *dymъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *dū́ˀmas, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dîm/

Noun

dȉm m (Cyrillic spelling ди̏м)

1. smoke

Declension

Derived terms

• dimni signal

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dymъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dím/

Noun

dȉm m inan

1. smoke

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Further reading

• “dim”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Sumerian

Romanization

dim

1. Romanization of 𒁴 (dim)

Talysh

Noun

dim

1. face

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh dim, cognate with the rare Old Irish dim (“something, anything”) (which may be a Brythonic loanword), with further etymology uncertain. Matasović derives the word from Proto-Celtic *dis-smi-, dissimilated from Proto-Indo-European *dus-smi- (literally “bad one”). Alternatively, Morris-Jones hypothesizes the original meaning was “share, portion” and derives the word from Proto-Celtic *dīsman, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- (“to share”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪm/
• Rhymes: -ɪm

Adjective

dim

1. any
2. no, not, none

Pronoun

dim

1. (in negative phrases) nothing, anything

   Synonym: dim byd

2. none, nil, zero

Derived terms

• dim byd (“nothing”)
• dim ond (“only”)
• da i ddim (“good for nothing, useless”)
• dim o beth (“pipsqueak, knee-high to a grasshopper”)

Related terms

• be', beth (“what”)
• pob dim, popeth (“everything”)
• rhywbeth (“something”)
• unrhyw beth (“anything”)

Particle

dim

1. not

Usage notes

As a verbal particle, almost always appears mutated as ddim.

Mutation

References

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), chapter DIM, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies