night

English

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night

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• nite (informal)

Etymology

From Middle English nighte, night, nyght, niȝt, naht, from Old English niht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht (“night”), from Proto-Germanic *nahts (“night”), from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”).

Cognate with Scots nicht, neicht (“night”), West Frisian nacht (“night”), Dutch nacht (“night”), Low German Nacht (“night”), German Nacht (“night”), Danish nat (“night”), Swedish and Norwegian natt (“night”), Faroese nátt (“night”), Icelandic nótt (“night”), Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts, “night”), Greek νύχτα (nýchta, “night”), Russian ночь (nočʹ, “night”), Sanskrit नक्ति (nákti, “night”), and Latin nox (“night”), whence English nox, a doublet.

Pronunciation

• (US, UK) enPR: nīt, IPA^(key): /naɪt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (UK, Scottish) IPA^(key): /nʌɪt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪt
• Homophone: knight

Noun

night (countable and uncountable, plural nights)

1. (countable) The time when the Sun is below the horizon when the sky is dark.

   Most animals are awake at day and sleep at night.

   • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01:

     The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.

   • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

     Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

2. (astronomy, countable) The period of darkness beginning at the end of evening astronomical twilight when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon, and ending at the beginning of morning astronomical twilight.
3. (law, countable) A period of time often defined in the legal system as beginning 30 minutes after sunset, and ending 30 minutes before sunrise.
4. (countable) An evening or night spent at a particular activity.

   a night on the town

   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

5. (countable) A day, or at least a night.

   I stayed my friend's house for three nights.

6. (uncountable) Nightfall.

   from noon till night

7. (uncountable) Darkness (due to it being nighttime).

   The cat disappeared into the night.

8. (uncountable) A dark blue colour, midnight blue.

   night:  

9. (sports, colloquial) A night's worth of competitions, generally one game.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:night.

Synonyms

• (evening or night spent at a particular activity): evening; see also Thesaurus:nighttime or Thesaurus:evening
• (quality of sleep): sleep
• (nightfall): dark, dusk, nightfall, sundown, sunset; see also Thesaurus:dusk
• (darkness): blackness, darkness, gloom, obscurity, shadow

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "period between sunset and sunrise"): day; see also Thesaurus:daytime
• (antonym(s) of "darkness"): brightness, daylight, light

Hypernyms

• 24-hour day

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

• Pijin: naet
• → Korean: 나이트 (naiteu)

Translations

See also

• (times of day) time of day; dawn, morning, noon/midday, afternoon, dusk, evening, night, midnight ^{(Category: en:Times of day)}

Interjection

night

1. Ellipsis of good night.

   Night, y'all! Thanks for a great evening!

Translations

Verb

night (third-person singular simple present nights, present participle nighting, simple past and past participle nighted)

1. To spend a night (in a place), to overnight.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, Arabian Nights, in 16 volumes, published 2008, page 284:

     So I took seat and ate somewhat of my vivers, my horse also feeding upon his fodder, and we nighted in that spot and next morning I set out[.]

References

• “night”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Thing, thing

Italian

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, borrowed from English night with the meaning of nightclub.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnajt/
• Rhymes: -ajt
• Hyphenation: night

Noun

night m (invariable)

1. nightclub
   • 2014, Gianfranco Tomei, Sole nero, Edizioni Nuova Cultura, page 42:

     Al centro di un night affollatissimo, su una pista, due ballerine stupiscono i clienti con i movimenti d'una danza moderna.

     At the center of a crowded nightclub, on a dancefloor, two dancers amaze customers with the movements of a modern dance.

References

Middle English

Noun

night

1. Alternative form of nyght

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English night.

Pronunciation

Noun

night f (plural nights)

1. (sometimes humorous) nightlife (nocturnal entertainment activities, especially parties and shows)

   Synonym: noite