overnight

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   For or during the night.

   We stayed overnight at a small hotel near the coast.

2. 2
   adv

   In a very short time; suddenly.

   The singer became famous almost overnight.

3. 3
   adj

   Lasting or happening during one night.

   They took the overnight train to Paris.

Common collocations

• overnight stay Adjective + noun
• overnight train Adjective + noun

Inherited from Middle English overnyght, from Old English ofer niht (“through the night, overnight”), equivalent to over + night. Verbal use (late 19th c.) may have been influenced by German übernachten (16th c.), though it could also have developed independently. Compare also Dutch overnachten (“to overnight”), Middle Low German ȫvernachten (“to overnight”), West Frisian oernachtsje (“to overnight”), Saterland Frisian uurnoachtje (“to overnight”).

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