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「熄み」appears in a song「インフェルノ」

> 照らすは闇 僕らは歩き慣れてきた日々も淘汰  
>  夢は安泰な暮らしだが 刺激不足故にタラタラ  
>  照らすは **熄み** 僕らの歩き慣れていた道はどこだ  
>  時はたまに癪だが 温もりに包まれ只

It is pronounced やみ in the song, the same as 闇. I have never seen this word
before. And strangely enough I can't find out much about it. [A page that
strives to explain the song
lyrics](https://www.teaandsoup-p.com/blog/?p=11346) shows 「熄み」 in the lyrics
but a couple lines down in the explanation section it is replaced by 「闇」. Do
they have the same meaning? What is 「熄み」's deal (etymology, currency, literary
examples)?
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meaning words etymology song-lyrics
What are「熄み」's etymology and meaning
## Flexibility in Japanese written forms

Written Japanese has two layers to it -- the words as pronounced, and the
words as written. This double-layering allows authors to play around with
nuance in ways that just aren't possible in other languages, like 月光【ムーンライト】
or 巾着【さいふ】 or 紅葉【はっぱのはなび】.

## 熄【や】み in specific

Your example isn't quite as much of a stretch, as や(み) is actually one of the
recognized _kun'yomi_ for the kanji 熄. See also the entries [at
WWWJDIC](http://nihongo.monash.edu/cgi-bin/wwwjdic?1MMC%E7%86%84) or [at the
Japanese Wiktionary](https://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%86%84). Note that this
is a so-called 表外字【ひょうがいじ】 or literally "off-the-chart character", as it is
not included in the list of 常用漢字【じょうようかんじ】 or "general-use kanji", and this
character is therefore somewhat rare.

In terms of nuance, 闇【やみ】 refers to "darkness", while 熄【や】み brings in shades
of "ceasing, halting, disappearing".

## Etymology (word origins)

Both terms reflect a root verb _yamu_ meaning something close to the 熄 sense:
"stopping, extinguishing, disappearing". This is related in turn with words
like:

  * 止【や】む: something ongoing stops, such as the rain
  * 止【や】める: to quit doing something, such as annoying your sister :)
  * 辞【や】める: to resign, to quit, such as a job or post
  * 病【や】む: to suffer from something, to become sick (probably from the way that sickness often led to someone stopping their normal routine, and possibly even "stopping" completely, i.e. dying)
  * 病【やまい】: disease, sickness
  * 病【や】ます: ( _archaic_ ) to afflict someone, to inflict something on someone
  * 闇【やみ】: darkness (from the way the light extinguishes or disappears)

Learning the root forms can open up all kinds of related terms. I find that my
understanding of Japanese is much richer when I learn the connections and
associations between words.

### Speculation

This root _yamu_ may be related to the term 黄泉【よみ】 for "the underworld, the
land of the dead". In the oldest texts, the word also showed a combining root
reading of _yomo_. The [entry at the English
Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%BB%84%E6%B3%89#Japanese) states
that this may be an ablaut (vowel-shift) relative of 山【やま】, from the way that
mountains were associated with the dead in ancient times. That entry has no
sources listed for this derivation, but the sound-shift alternation //a// ↔
//o// is apparent in various other terms rooted in ancient vocabulary, where
//a// seems to indicate "outward" and //o// "inward".

_(Full disclosure: I've edited that 黄泉 entry. However, I did not add that
particular derivation.)_

Anyway, make of this last part what you will. :)

* * *

Please comment if the above does not address your question.
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