Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Very dark or gloomy.
  • noun One of a mythical people described by Homer as inhabiting a land of perpetual darkness.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to the Cimmerii, a mythical people mentioned by Homer as dwelling “beyond the ocean-stream, where the sun never shines, and perpetual darkness reigns.”
  • Hence Very dark; obscure; gloomy.
  • Pertaining to the Cimmerii, a nomadic people of antiquity dwelling in the Crimea, near the sea of Azof, and in the country of the lower Volga, and perhaps, from some vague knowledge, the original of the mythical Cimmerii.
  • noun One of the Cimmerii, in either the mythical or the historical application of that name.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to the Cimmerii, a fabulous people, said to have lived, in very ancient times, in profound and perpetual darkness.
  • adjective Without any light; intensely dark.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Greek mythology Any of the mythical people supposed to inhabit a land of perpetual darkness.
  • noun one of the Cimmerii, ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin
  • noun historical the prophetic priestess presiding over the Apollonian Oracle at Cimmerium in Italy.
  • adjective Pertaining to the ancient Cimmerians.
  • adjective Characteristic of Cimmeria; especially describing particularly dense darkness etc.
  • proper noun the language of the Cimmerians, possibly belonging to the Iranian branch

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective intensely dark and gloomy as with perpetual darkness

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin Cimmeriī, the Cimmerians, from Greek Kimmerioi.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Latin Cimmerius, from Ancient Greek Κιμμέριος ("pertaining to the Cimmerii") +‎ -an.

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Examples

  • Conan, a Cimmerian, is being pursued by pissed off guys with swords and crossbows.

    Instead of Writing wendigomountain 2008

  • A large, scarred Cimmerian is nearby, and manages to rescue her, not without injury to either.

    Archive 2007-03-01 Blue Tyson 2007

  • If the Cimmerian is probably the stronger, the rifleman has a rifle (duh!).

    Sharpe's Tower of the Elephant (part 2) zornhau 2007

  • A large, scarred Cimmerian is nearby, and manages to rescue her, not without injury to either.

    Archive 2007-01-01 Blue Tyson 2007

  • A large, scarred Cimmerian is nearby, and manages to rescue her, not without injury to either.

    Archive 2007-02-01 Blue Tyson 2007

  • A large, scarred Cimmerian is nearby, and manages to rescue her, not without injury to either.

    Archive 2007-03-01 Blue Tyson 2007

  • A large, scarred Cimmerian is nearby, and manages to rescue her, not without injury to either.

    Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror: The Conan Chronicles 1 (The People of the Black Circle) - Robert E. Howard Blue Tyson 2006

  • Double sorrow -- sadness, bred in Cimmerian caves, robed my soul in a mourning garb.

    III.10 1826

  • The Cimmerian is a talented fighter, but his travels have given him vast experience in other trades, especially as a thief; he is also a talented commander, tactician and strategist, as well as a born leader.

    The Facts About Conan Reis O'Brien 2008

  • The Cimmerian was a hillman of the breed of whom it is said they have eyes in their feet.

    Conan and The Mists of Door Green, Roland 1995

Comments

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  • from Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution

    March 6, 2011

  • I usually see Cimmerian as part of the Conan The Barbarian story.

    October 15, 2015