benight

Etymology

From Middle English benyghten, binighten, bynyȝten, equivalent to be- + night.

verb

  1. (chiefly in passive) To overtake (a traveller etc) with the darkness of night, especially before shelter is reached.
  2. To darken; to shroud or obscure.
  3. To plunge or be overwhelmed in moral or intellectual darkness.
    Can we whose souls are lighted With Wisdom from on high, Can we to men benighted The lamp of life deny? 1819, Reginald Heber, The Missionary Hymn

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