night

A1 Topic:Time

Also spelled neeght and nicht

US /ˈnaɪt/ UK /naɪt/ See IPA manual

Homophones

knight /naɪt/

Freq #162

Meanings

1

noun
The time between sunset and sunrise, when it is dark.

The stars come out at night.
2

noun
An evening, especially one spent doing a particular activity.

We had a great night out with our friends.
3

noun
A night spent sleeping somewhere.

I stayed at my friend's house for three nights.

Word forms

The same word in different grammatical forms.

Noun

Singular: night
We stayed for one night.
Plural: nights
We stayed for two nights.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · an evening, especially one... evening

More dusk nightfall nighttime sleep sundown sunset

Opposites

brightness day daylight daytime light

Word family

Derived forms all-nightall-night-manall-nighterallnighteralnightanightbarnightbenightbirthnightclubnightday-and-nightday-night

Appears in

Phrases (9)

See all

late night
a night when one stays up past a normal bedtime

Adjective + noun
spend the night
to sleep somewhere overnight

Verb + noun
stay the night
to sleep at someone's home or another place overnight

Verb + noun
sleepless night
A night during which one cannot sleep, typically due to worry, illness, or a newborn

Adjective + noun
rough night
A night that is difficult, uncomfortable, or disturbed.

Adjective + noun
night watchman
a male guard who works during the night

Noun + noun

Proverbs (3)

See all

Simplified etymology

Night is inherited from Old English and ultimately comes from the same ancient root as Latin nox, “night.” That Latin relative also contributed to equinox and nocturnal.

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”). Cognates Cognate with Scots nicht (“night”), Yola neeght, nieght, nyeght (“night”), North Frisian naacht, Nacht, noach, nåcht (“night”), Saterland Frisian Noacht (“night”), West Frisian nacht (“night”), Cimbrian, Dutch nacht (“night”), German, Low German Nacht (“night”), Luxembourgish Nuecht (“night”), Mòcheno nòcht (“night”), Vilamovian naocht (“night”), Yiddish נאַכט (nakht, “night”), Danish na…

nighte Middle English niht Old English *naht Proto-West Germanic *nahts Proto-Germanic *nókʷts Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Time

External links

# night

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈnaɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /naɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 162

## Meanings
1. The time between sunset and sunrise, when it is dark.
2. An evening, especially one spent doing a particular activity.
3. A night spent sleeping somewhere.

## Examples
- The stars come out at night.
- We had a great night out with our friends.
- I stayed at my friend's house for three nights.

## Synonyms
- dusk
- evening
- nightfall
- nighttime
- sleep
- sundown
- sunset

## Antonyms
- brightness
- day
- daylight
- daytime
- light

## Derived Forms
- all-night
- all-night-man
- all-nighter
- allnighter
- alnight
- anight
- barnight
- benight
- birthnight
- clubnight
- day-and-night
- day-night

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: nighte
- Root: niht
- Root: *naht
- Root: *nahts
- Root: *nókʷts

## 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”). Cognates Cognate with Scots nicht (“night”), Yola neeght, nieght, nyeght (“night”), North Frisian naacht, Nacht, noach, nåcht (“night”), Saterland Frisian Noacht (“night”), West Frisian nacht (“night”), Cimbrian, Dutch nacht (“night”), German, Low German Nacht (“night”), Luxembourgish Nuecht (“night”), Mòcheno nòcht (“night”), Vilamovian naocht (“night”), Yiddish נאַכט (nakht, “night”), Danish na…

## AI Etymology
Night comes 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”). Modern senses include the time between sunset and sunrise, when it is dark and an evening, especially one spent doing a particular activity. The wider word family includes derivatives such as all-night, all-night-man, all-nighter, allnighter, alnight, and anight.

## Topics
- Time

markdown