night English · revision 1797

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=ine-pro *nekwt-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /naɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|night]], [[m|enm|niht]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|niht|t=night; darkness]], West Saxon [[m|ang|neaht]], Anglian [[m|ang|næht]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*nahts]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[ine-pro|*nekwt-|t=night]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) probably from a verbal root [[m|ine-pro|*neg-]] “to be dark, be night”, according to Watkins.^(Etymonline)^(Watkins 2000) The vowel of ''niht'' was taken from the oblique cases (genitive [[m|ang|nihte]], dative ''niht'').^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Its Germanic cognates include [[nl|nacht]], [[goh|naht]] (modern [[de|Nacht]]), [[non|nátt]] and [[got|𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃|tr=nahts]];^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) outside Germanic it is related to [[la|nox]] (genitive [[m|la|noctis]]), [[grc|νύξ|tr=núx]], [[sa|नक्त|tr=nákta|t=night]], [[lt|naktis]], [[cy|nos]] and [[hit|nekuz|t=evening]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) For the spelling with -gh- see [[fight]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The period of darkness between one day and the next (Old English, about 725 in ''Beowulf''; 825 in the OED); also figurative darkness, moral darkness, ignorance.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Weekley observed that the Indo-European peoples had a common name for night but not for day because they reckoned time by nights,^(Weekley 1921)^(Etymonline) a custom that survives in [[fortnight]], “fourteen nights”, and [[sennight]], and in German ''Weihnachten'' “Christmas”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Weekley 1921) In Old English combinations ''night'' could mean the night before a day, since the day was held to begin at sunset: ''Monanniht'' “Monday night” was the night before Monday.^(Etymonline) The sense “nightfall, the close of day” dates from about 1205,^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) and ''night'' personified as a goddess from the late 14th century.^(HTOED)^(OED 1989) An evening devoted to a performance is recorded from 1707, and '''night'' “good night” from 1912.^(HTOED) The verb “to spend the night” dates from 1303 and survives in Scotland.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) The ''night of the long knives'', originally the legendary massacre of the Britons by Hengist, is now chiefly associated with Hitler's purge of 1934.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Nightmare'' contains an old word for a suffocating evil spirit, not a horse.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''niht'', in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 950 – in figurative uses.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1205 – nightfall.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1250 – ''nigt''; about 1300, ''night''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1303 – verb, to spend the night.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1378 – ''nightcap'', a cap worn in bed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1395 – night personified.^(HTOED)

+ * 1700 – ''nightfall''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1707 – an evening of performance.^(HTOED)

+ * 1912 – '''night'', good night.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The period of darkness between [[sunset]] and [[sunrise]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # This period as a unit of time: ''two nights running''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The time between evening and bedtime; an evening set aside for an event: ''opening night''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # [[nightfall|alt=Nightfall]].^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # Darkness; figuratively, a time of ignorance, misfortune or [[death]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # ''(law)'' The time from sunset to sunrise, when a face cannot be made out, as in the old definition of [[burglary]].^(Black's Law 2004)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, occurring or working at night: ''night air'', ''a night nurse''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(informal, chiefly North America)'' '''Nights''', at night.^(COED 2004)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''(informal)'' Good night.^(COED 2004)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nightless]]

+ * [[nightlessly]]

+ * [[nightlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nocturnal]]

+ * [[equinox]]

+ * [[fortnight]]

+ * [[sennight]]

+ * [[nightingale]]

+ * [[nightmare]]

+ * [[nightly]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}