dim

dim

1. (mathematics) dimension

• enPR: dĭm, IPA^(key): /dɪm/

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• Rhymes: -ɪm

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”).

dim (comparative dimmer, superlative dimmest)

1. Not bright or colorful.

   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 1156441409:

     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.

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

3. Indistinct, hazy or unclear.

   His vision grew dimmer as he aged.

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

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.

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, John Dryden, transl., De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], OCLC 261121781:

     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[oseph] Johnson, […], OCLC 779243096, line 501, page 42:

     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 […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; 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.

• bedim
• dimmer (noun)

• dim sim (etymologically unrelated)
• dim sum (etymologically unrelated)

dim (not comparable)

1. (music) Clipping of diminished.

• dim. (diminuendo)

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

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɪm]
• Hyphenation: dim

From Dutch duim.

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

1. thumb
2. inch

   Synonym: inci

From English dimmer.

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

1. high-beam headlamp on a road vehicle.

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

From Proto-Slavic *dymъ.

dim

1. smoke

dim

1. 3rd person singular present indicative form of dimēt
2. 3rd person plural present indicative form of dimēt
3. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of dimēt
4. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of dimēt

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

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

• “dim” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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.

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

• dimma, dimme (verb)

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”).

dim n (definite singular dimmet, uncountable)

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

   Synonym: skumring

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

1. (colloquial) Clipping of dimensjon.

• “dim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• mid-

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

• IPA^(key): /dîm/

dȉm m (Cyrillic spelling ди̏м)

1. smoke

• dimni signal

From Proto-Slavic *dymъ.

• IPA^(key): /dím/

dȉm m inan

1. smoke

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

dim

1. Romanization of 𒁴 (dim)

From Middle Welsh dim. Cognate with the rare Old Irish dim (“something, anything”), which may be a Brythonic loanword. Further etymology uncertain. Matasović takes it from Proto-Celtic *dis-smi-, dissimilated from Proto-Indo-European *dus-smi- (literally “bad one”).[1] Morris Jones hypothesizes the original meaning was “share, portion” and derives it from Proto-Celtic *dīsman, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- (“to share”).[2]

• IPA^(key): /dɪm/
• Rhymes: -ɪm

dim

1. any
2. no, not, none

dim

1. anything
2. nothing, none, nil, zero

• dim byd
• dim ond

dim

1. not

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

• 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