darkside meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

darkside

noun

UK /ˈdɑːk.saɪd/ · US /ˈdɑɹkˌsaɪd/

Etymology From dark + side. Sense 2.1 (“side that is evil”) was popularized by the film Star Wars (1977; later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) where the term was used to describe the aspect of a metaphysical power called the Force which could be used to act aggressively and perpetrate evil.

The side of something that is in darkness or unlit, or has less illumination.

She checked their orbital position. She would have perhaps ten more minutes in darkside. The earth itself was a massive radiation shield between the station and the sun, and she would be perfectly safe.1985 December, Martin Caidin, chapter 21, in Killer Station, New York, N.Y.: Baen Enterprises, →ISBN, page 299:
This paper describes a hydrogen–oxygen regenerative fuel cell (RFC) energy storage system based on high temperature solid oxide fuel (SOFC) technology. […] The system functions as a secondary battery and is applicable to darkside energy storage for solar photovoltaics.1987, David J. Bents, High Temperature Solid Oxide Regenerative Fuel Cell for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Storage […] (NASA Technical Memorandum; 89872; AIAA-87-9203), Cleveland, Oh.: Lewis Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2021, abstract, page 1, column 1:

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The spacecraft requirement stems from the need for spacecraft to conserve heat, and thus battery power, when not exposed to sunlight ("darkside"), to reflect heat when facing the Sun, and, on occasion, to emit excess heat on the darkside.2005, P. Chandrasekhar et al., “Far-IR-through-visible Electrochromics Based on Conducting Polymers for Spacecraft Thermal Control and Military Uses”, in Samson A[lly] Jenekhe, Douglas J. Kiserow, editors, Chromogenic Phenomena in Ppolymers: Tunable Optical Properties (ACS Symposium Series; 888), Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, →ISBN, page 67:

Figuratively The side of something that is metaphorically dark, i.e. evil, distressing or otherwise undesirable; the negative aspect of something.

Near-synonym: downside
[B]lack metal is by definition concerned with the occult as seen in its lyrical fixation with Satan or darkside tribal paganism.2003, Mattias Gardell, “Hail Loki! Hail Satan! Hail Hitler! Darkside Asatrú, Satanism, and Occult National Socialism”, in Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism, Durham, N.C.; London: Duke University Press, →ISBN, page 305:

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"Why horror?" she'd ask, adding to her opinion that, "What sells is love stories, romance. A good drama." And so I'd ask myself, why indeed dwell into t[he] darkside of literature? Does it make me happy to figure out new ways to cause people's death?2004, Philip M. LaVoie, “Introduction”, in Nightmare Puzzle: A Collection of Short Pieces, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page vii:
People, the darkside already knows who we are, so it's not like we're blowing our cover, they just can't pinpoint us at any given time.2007, L[eslie] E[sdaile] Banks, chapter 13, in The Cursed: A Vampire Huntress Legend, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin, →ISBN, page 338:
We are relieved to put the book aside or leave the theater, knowing that the monsters that these tales portray are not real. They are only creatures born somewhere in the darkside of a writer's psyche.2010, Brad Steiger, “Demons from the Darkside”, in Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside, Canton, Mich.: Visible Ink Press, →ISBN, page 67:
Of course our teachers in this lifetime have all been mainly from the darkside so it has been easy to propagate these lies. If nothing else, the first six volumes of this work should show us all just how much we have been duped and that just about everything we think we know or believe is a lie.2011, Peter R. Farley, “As Above, So Below”, in Where Were You before the Tree of Life?: The True History of the Darkness and the Light, volume 7 (The Hunt for Lucifer), [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 41:

Astronomy, Natural sciences Synonym of farside (“the side of a moon that faces away from the planet that it orbits”).

He did not give a damn; he had his own problems and considerations and, besides, the BUTTON and he would settle this once and for all on the fifth go-round and then he would press the BUTTON, on the darkside, let them sweat out this one and think they were getting through to him and the two of them would head back for Earth and a generation of peace and celebration.1971, Barry N[athaniel] Malzberg, chapter XX, in The Falling Astronauts, London: Hachette UK, published 2011, →ISBN:
Also shown at the bottom [of Figure 1] is the trajectory during the first encounter on 29 March 1974, which was a darkside pass with a closest approach distance from the surface of 723 km. […] The third encounter on 16 March 1975 was similar to the first, being a very close approach towards the darkside near the north polar region at a miss distance of 327 km.1977 January, Norman F[rederick] Ness, “The Magnetic Field of Mercury”, in Edith A[lice] Müller, editor, Highlights of Astronomy, volume 4, part I, Dordrecht, South Holland: D. Reidel for the International Astronomical Union, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2022, page 180:

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On the lighter side, Cassini should be coming out of darkside soon and run smack-dab into the distress siren.2002, Carl Rafala, “Soul Solution”, in Wildflower, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 2:

Astronomy, Natural sciences Synonym of nightside (“the side of a planet that faces away from the sun around which it orbits”).

Terraport would be in darkside now, and her great lights would be fused into a single tiny eye winking mockery at him – if he chose to slide back his porthole screen.1950 fall, Charles L[eonard] Harness, “Heritage”, in Robert P[ark] Mills, editor, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume I, number 4, New York, N.Y.: Fantasy House, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 100:
The vehicle, in an equatorial orbit of 300 nautical miles, has a period of 2.1 hours establishing 0.7 hours of darkside operation and 1.4 hours of sunlight operation.1963, Engineering Problems of Manned Interplanetary Exploration: A Volume of Technical Papers Presented Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 1963, New York, N.Y.: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, →OCLC, page 78, column 2:

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In the case of Copernicus [a lunar crater], during an eclipse three maxima in the brightness temperature were observed within the crater, whereas with the same resolution, only one maximum was seen 16 hours after sunset. Thus a careful comparison of darkside and eclipse infrared mapping may show differences which, in the case of the rock hypothesis, could be due to variations in the size distribution.1966 December, J[ohn] M[atthew] Saari, R[ichard] W. Shorthill, Review of Lunar Infrared Observations […] (Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories Document; D1-82-0586), Seattle, Wash.: Geo-astrophysics Laboratory, Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories, →OCLC, page 18:
But that air was at its coldest—aphelion was the chilliest season everywhere on this chill and temperate world—and the mountains of that limb were lower. Currents of darkside air would begin to flow through the low passes into the relative warmth of the marsh country, and the ponderous wheel of air would roll again.1988 September, M[ary] J[ane] Engh, “[Preface to ‘The Second Turn’]”, in Wheel of the Winds, 1st mass market edition, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, Tom Doherty Associates, published October 1989, →ISBN, pages 273–274:
NOAA-lO is a terminator orbital satellite which leads WFOVSW channel to only a few days of darkside data in a whole year.1989 March, Nesim Halyo, Dhirendra K. Pandey, Deborah B. Taylor, Modeling and Characterization of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) Nonscanner and Scanner Sensors (NASA Contractor Report; 181818), Hampton, Va.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, →OCLC:

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A style of electronic music, being a form of hardcore characterized by discordant sounds.

The label closely observed the shifts in techno during the 90s, being a staple source of ‘darkside’ hardcore in 1992.1994, “Reinforced Records”, in Colin Larkin, editor, The Guinness Who’s Who of Rap, Dance & Techno, Enfield, Middlesex [London]: Guinness Publishing, →ISBN, page 304, column 1:
1993 was the year that hardcore began to get more varied with different styles being made. One style known as "darkness" or "darkside" used less pianos and more darker sounding chords.2003 May 6, Alex Nikolaenko Jr., “What is a Jungle?”, in fido7.ru.music.drum-bass (Usenet):

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After some atonal washes and twitchy breakbeats, the track lurched to a sudden halt and – in a moment that still takes my breath away when I listen to it now – a brief snatch of the spidery, abstract electronics instantly recognisable from the Japan record leapt into the chasm, before being immediately consumed by viscous bass ooze and the synthetic screeches that were the sonic signatures of darkside Jungle.2007 December, Mark Fisher, “Epiphanies”, in The Wire, number 286, London: The Wire Magazine, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 May 2021, page 106, columns 1–2:

Related terms: brightside, lightside