Origin and history of night

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.

Entries linking to night

fight(v.)

Old English feohtan "to combat, contend with weapons, strive; attack; gain by fighting, win" (intransitive; class III strong verb; past tense feaht, past participle fohten), from Proto-Germanic *fe(u)hta (source also of Old High German fehtan, German fechten, Middle Dutch and Dutch vechten, Old Frisian fiuhta "to fight"), probably from PIE *pek- (2) "to comb, to pluck out" wool or hair (source also of Lithuanian pėšti "to pluck," Greek pekein "to comb, shear," pekos "fleece, wool;" Persian pashm "wool, down," Latin pectere "to comb," Sanskrit paksman- "eyebrows, hair"). Apparently the notion is "pulling roughly," or "to tear out one another's hair." But perhaps it is from the source of Latin pugnus "fist."

Spelling substitution of -gh- for a "hard H" sound was a Middle English scribal habit, especially before -t-. In some late Old English examples, the middle consonant was represented by a yogh. Among provincial early Modern English spellings, Wright lists faight, fate, fecht, feeght, feight, feit, feyght, feyt, feort, foight.

From c. 1200 as "offer resistance, struggle;" also "to quarrel, wrangle, create a disturbance." From late 14c. as "be in conflict." Transitive use from 1690s. To fight for "contest on behalf of" is from early 14c. To fight back "resist" is recorded from 1890. Well figt þat wel fligt ("he fights well that flies fast") was a Middle English proverb.

all-nighter(n.)

"incident of staying up all night," 1870, from the adverbial phrase; see all + night. By 1930 as "person who stays up all night."

More to explore

equinox
c. 1400, "point at which the sun crosses the earth's equator, making day and night of equal length everywhere," from Old French equinoce (12c.) or directly from Medieval Latin equinoxium "equality of night (and day)," from Latin aequinoctium, usually in plural, dies aequinoctii "
nightcap
also night-cap, late 14c., "covering for the head, worn in bed," from night + cap (n.). In the alcoholic sense, it is attested from 1818. American English sense of "final event in a sporting contest" (especially the second game of a baseball double-header) is by 1924. Sunday's b
nightingale
"small migratory bird of the Old World, noted for the male's melodious song, heard by night as well as day," Middle English nighte-gale, from Old English næctigalæ, in late Old English nihtegale, a compound formed in Proto-Germanic (compare Dutch nachtegaal, German Nachtigall) fr
bivouac
1702, "encampment of soldiers that stays up on night watch in the open air, dressed and armed," from French bivouac (17c....), said to be a word from the Thirty Years' War, ultimately from Swiss/Alsatian biwacht "night guard," from bei- (from Old...As a verb, 1809, "to post troops in the night;" the meaning "camp out-of-doors without tents" is from 1814....
noctilucent
"shining by night," as the eyes of a cat, glow-worms, decaying wood, or certain high clouds seen in northern latitudes, 1812..., from Latin noct-, stem of nox "night" (see noct-) + lucentem (nominative lucens), present participle of lucere "to shine...I have at night, in rowing, seen the whole element as if on fire round me; every oar spangled with them; and the water burnt...Noctilucid is rarely used, but could be valuable if it meant "only making sense at night." Related: Noctilucence....
watch
From c. 1200 as "one of the periods into which the night is divided," in reference to ancient times translating Latin vigilia...Also in Middle English, "the practice of remaining awake at night for purposes of debauchery and dissipation;" hence wacches...of wodnesse "late-night revels and debauchery."...The Hebrews divided the night into three watches, the Greeks usually into four (sometimes five), the Romans (followed by...
bat
alteration of Middle English bakke (early 14c.), which is probably related to Old Swedish natbakka, Old Danish nathbakkæ "night...As a contemptuous term for an old woman, it is perhaps a suggestion of witchcraft (compare fly-by-night), or from bat as..."prostitute who plies her trade by night" [Farmer, who calls it "old slang" and finds French equivalent "night swallow" (...
gloaming
Old English glomung "twilight, the fall of evening," found but once (glossing Latin crepusculum), and formed (probably on model of æfning "evening") from glom "twilight," which is related to glowan "to glow" (hence "glow of sunrise or sunset"), from Proto-Germanic *glo- (see glow
thing
Old English þing "meeting, assembly, council, discussion," later "entity, being, matter" (subject of deliberation in an assembly), also "act, deed, event, material object, body, being, creature," from Proto-Germanic *thinga- "assembly" (source also of Old Frisian thing "assembly,
evening
from Old English æfnung "the coming of evening, sunset, time around sunset," verbal noun from æfnian "become evening, grow toward evening," from æfen "evening" (see eve). As a synonym of even (n.) in the sense "time from sunset to bedtime," it dates from mid-15c. and now entirely

Share night

Trending
Dictionary entries near night