also: やあん
noun
dead of night; pitch darkness of night
Literary or poetic term for the deepest, darkest part of the night. Not used in everyday conversation; more common in written descriptions or classical contexts.
夜闇に包まれた森は、不気味な静けさに満ちていた。
The forest, wrapped in the dead of night, was filled with an eerie silence.
月も星も見えない、真の夜闇だった。
It was a true pitch-black night, with neither moon nor stars visible.
Rare kanji spelling for the reading やあん. 暗 is a common character for darkness, but this compound is not standard.
Compound of 夜 (yo, 'night') and 闇 (yami, 'darkness'). The reading よやみ is a straightforward combination. The reading やあん is a rare, possibly dialectal or archaic variant.