[dark age] n (1730) 1: a time during which a civilization undergoes a decline: as a pl, cap D&A: the European historical period from about a.d. 476 to about 1000; broadly: middle ages b often pl, often cap D&A: the Greek historical period of three to four centuries from about 1100 b.c.
2. a often pl, often cap D&A: the primitive period in the development of something "in the 1890s, way back in baseball's Dark Ages --R. W. Creamer" b often pl, often cap D&A: a state of stagnation or decline