midnight

A2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/ UK [ˈmɪd̚naɪt] See IPA manual

Freq #2149

Meanings

1

noun
Twelve o'clock at night.

The party went on until well past midnight.
2

adj
Very dark or black, like the night sky.

Her midnight hair flowed around her shoulders.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noon

Opposites

midday

Word family

Forms midnights

Derived forms midnightishmidnightlypost-midnightpostmidnightpremidnight

Related forms afternoon dawn dusk evening morning nightpostdawn

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

midnight sun
the sun remaining visible at midnight in polar regions

Noun + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

burn the midnight oil
To stay up very late working or studying.

Etymology

From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”).

midnight Middle English midniht Old English *midjanahts Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# midnight

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/
**IPA (UK):** [ˈmɪd̚naɪt]
**Frequency rank:** 2149

## Meanings
1. Twelve o'clock at night.
2. Very dark or black, like the night sky.

## Examples
- The party went on until well past midnight.
- Her midnight hair flowed around her shoulders.

## Synonyms
- noon

## Antonyms
- midday

## Derived Forms
- midnightish
- midnightly
- post-midnight
- postmidnight
- premidnight

## Related Forms
- afternoon
- dawn
- dusk
- evening
- morning
- night
- postdawn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: midnight
- Root: midniht
- Root: *midjanahts

## Etymology
From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”).

## AI Etymology
Midnight comes from Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”). In present-day English its meanings include twelve o'clock at night and very dark or black, like the night sky. The historical chain runs through midnight (Middle English), midniht (Old English), and *midjanahts (Proto-Germanic).

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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