Definition of "darkness"

darkness

/ˈdɑːknəs/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural darknesses
1. (uncountable) The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.
  Quotations
  Over everything was darkness and thick silence, and the smell of dust and sunflowers.
  1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl
  Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
  1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915
2. (uncountable) The state or quality of reflecting little light, of tending to a blackish or brownish color.
3. (uncountable, countable) Any space that such colour pervades.
4. (uncountable) Gloom; gloominess; depression.
5. (countable) The product of being dark.
6. (uncountable) Lack of understanding or compassion; spiritual or mental blindness.
  Quotations
  And now, the prophecy. One will come, the voice from the outer world, bringing the holy war, the jihad, which will cleanse the universe and bring us out of darkness.
  1984, 41:18 from the start, in Dune‎ (Science Fiction), spoken by Reverend Mother Ramallo
7. (uncountable) Secrecy; concealment.
8. (uncountable) Lack of knowledge; obscurity or meaning or intelligibility; the unknown.
  Quotations
  It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.
  1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], part I, page 195
9. (uncountable) Hell.
  Quotations
  Shepard: Can you tell me anything about the beacon?Dr. Warren: It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime!Dr. Warren: Miraculous new technologies. Groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets are locked inside?Dr. Manuel: We have unearthed the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness.
  2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Eden Prime