Be*night" (b&esl;*nīt"), 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.
Milton.

3. To involve in moral darkness, or ignorance; to debar from intellectual light.

Shall we to men benighted
The lamp of life deny ?
Heber.

• (only exists as the derived adjective benighted)