Dark Ages

Etymology
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

 * 1)  The period of European history encompassing (roughly) 476–1000.
 * 2)  The  (c. 1100–750 ).
 * 3) The  (c. 1450–1863).
 * 4) The dark ages of Laos (c. 1707–1893).
 * 5)  The, 380 thousand to about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
 * 6)  Any relatively primitive period of time.
 * 1)  The, 380 thousand to about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
 * 2)  Any relatively primitive period of time.

Usage notes

 * For the period of European history, academic historians now prefer the term.

Translations

 * Arabic: اَلْعُصُورُ الْمُظْلِمَةُ
 * French: siècles obscurs
 * German: Dunkle Jahrhunderte, finsteres Mittelalter
 * Hungarian: sötét középkor
 * Ido: tenebro-epoko
 * Indonesian: Zaman Kegelapan
 * Japanese:
 * Latin: saeculum obscurum
 * Malay: Zaman Kelam
 * Polish: wieki ciemne
 * Portuguese: Idade das Trevas
 * Scottish Gaelic: Linntean Dorcha
 * Spanish: Edad Oscura