benight /(bē̇*nīt")/

be·night

benight

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Benighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Benighting

  1. To involve in darkness; to shroud with the shades of night; to obscure. [Archaic]
    The clouds benight the sky.
    — Garth.
  2. To overtake with night or darkness, especially before the end of a day's journey or task.
    Some virgin, sure, . . . benighted in these woods.
  3. To involve in moral darkness, or ignorance; to debar from intellectual light.
    Shall we to men benighted The lamp of life deny ?