Advertisement

Origin and history of benight

benight(v.)

1550s, "to be overtaken by darkness;" 1630s, "to involve with darkness," from be- + night. Figurative sense of "to involve in moral or intellectual darkness" is from c. 1600, and the word is rarely used now except in the form of the figurative past-participle adjective benighted.

also from 1550s

Entries linking to benight

benighted(adj.)

1570s, "overtaken by darkness," past-participle adjective from obsolete verb benight (q.v.). Little used in the literal sense, usually it means "in intellectual or moral darkness" (1630s).

night(n.)

late Old English niht (West Saxon neaht, Anglian næht, neht) "the dark part of a day; the night as a unit of time; darkness," also "absence of spiritual illumination, moral darkness, ignorance," from Proto-Germanic *nahts (source also of Old Saxon and Old High German naht, Old Frisian and Dutch nacht, German Nacht, Old Norse natt, Gothic nahts).

The Germanic words are from PIE *nekwt- "night" (source also of Greek nyx "a night," Latin nox, Old Irish nochd, Sanskrit naktam "at night," Lithuanian naktis "night," Old Church Slavonic nosti, Russian noch', Welsh henoid "tonight"), according to Watkins, probably from a verbal root *neg- "to be dark, be night." For spelling with -gh- see fight. The vowel indicates that the modern English word derives from oblique cases (genitive nihte, dative niht).

The fact that the Aryans have a common name for night, but not for day (q.v.), is due to the fact that they reckoned by nights. [Weekley]

Thus in Old English combinations night was "the night before (a certain day or feast day);" compare German Weihnachten "Christmas," literally "holy night." In early times, the day was held to begin at sunset, so Old English monanniht "Monday night" was the night before Monday, or what we would call Sunday night; so saeterniht "Friday night." Thomas à Becket's Wednes-night (Old English Wodnes-niht) would be our Tuesday night. The Greeks, by contrast, counted their days by mornings.

To work nights preserves the Old English genitive of time. Night soil "excrement" (1770) is so called because it was removed (from cesspools, etc.) after dark. Night train is attested from 1838; night-school from 1520s; night-life "habitual nocturnal carousing" is attested from 1852.

be-

word-forming element of verbs and nouns from verbs, with a wide range of meaning: "about, around; thoroughly, completely; to make, cause, seem; to provide with; at, on, to, for;" from Old English be- "about, around, on all sides" (the unstressed form of bi "by;" see by (prep.)). The form has remained by- in stressed positions and in some more modern formations (bygones, bystander); in bylaw it is a different word.

The Old English prefix also was used to make transitive verbs and as a privative prefix (as in behead). The sense "on all sides, all about" naturally grew to include intensive uses (as in bespatter "spatter about," therefore "spatter very much," besprinkle, etc.). Be- also can be causative, or have just about any sense required. The prefix was productive 16c.-17c. in forming words, many of them useful or tuneful, most obsolete, among them bethwack "to thrash soundly" (1550s) and betongue "to assail in speech, to scold" (1630s). Shakespeare's wolf behowls the moon.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    fondle
    1690s, "treat with indulgence and affection" (now obsolete), from fond (adj.) + frequentative ending. Or possibly from the obsolete verb fond "be fond, be in love, dote" (1520s), from the adjective or altered from earlier fon. Sense of "caress" first recorded 1796. As a noun from
    envelop
    late 14c., envolupen, "be involved" (in sin, crime, etc.), from Old French envoleper, envoluper "envelop, cover; fold up, wrap up" (10c., Modern French envelopper), from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + voloper "wrap up," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps Celtic (see Gamillscheg, Die
    darken
    c. 1300, derken, "to make dark or darker, deprive of light;" early 14c. (intransitive), "to grow or become dark," from dark (adj.) + -en (1). The more usual verb in Middle English in both senses was simply dark, as it is in Chaucer and Shakespeare, and darken did not predominate
    overwhelm
    mid-14c., overwhelmen, "to turn upside down, overthrow, knock over," from over- + Middle English whelmen "to turn upside down" (see whelm). Meaning "to submerge completely" is early 15c. Perhaps the connecting notion is a boat, etc., washed over, and overset, by a big wave. Figur
    enclose
    enclosen, "to surround (a plot of ground, a town, a building, etc.) with walls, fences, or other barriers," early 14c., from en- (1) + close (v.), and partially from Old French enclos, past participle of enclore "surround; confine; contain." Specific sense of "to fence in waste o
    overtake
    "to come up to, catch up with, catch in pursuit," early 13c., from over- + take (v.). According to OED (1989), originally "the running down and catching of a fugitive or beast of chase"; the editors find the sense of over- in this word "not so clear." The meaning "take by surpris
    warp
    "to bend, twist, distort," Old English weorpan "to throw, throw away, hit with a missile," from Proto-Germanic *werpanan "to fling by turning the arm" (source also of Old Saxon werpan, Old Norse verpa "to throw," Swedish värpa "to lay eggs," Old Frisian werpa, Middle Low German a
    wrap
    early 14c., wrappen, "to wind (something around something else), cover (something), conceal; bind up, swaddle; fold (something) up or back on itself," of uncertain origin, perhaps via Scandinavian (compare Danish dialectal vravle "to wind"), from PIE *werp- "to turn, wind," from
    overcome
    Old English ofercuman "to reach, overtake, move or pass over," also "to conquer, prevail over, defeat in combat" (the Devil, evil spirits, sin, temptation, etc.), from ofer (see over) + cuman "to come" (see come (v.)). A common Germanic compound (Middle Dutch overkomen, Old High
    psyche
    1640s, "animating spirit, the human spirit or mind," from Latin psyche, from Greek psykhē "the soul, mind, spirit; life, one's life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body; understanding, the mind (as the seat of thought), faculty

    Share benight

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near benight
    Advertisement