night

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”). Cognate with Scots nicht, neicht (“night”), West Frisian nacht (“night”), Dutch nacht (“night”), Low German Nacht (“night”), German Nacht (“night”), Danish nat (“night”), Swedish and Norwegian natt (“night”), Faroese nátt (“night”), Icelandic nótt (“night”), Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts, “night”), Greek νύχτα (nýchta, “night”), Russian ночь (nočʹ, “night”), Sanskrit नक्ति (nákti, “night”), and Latin nox (“night”), whence English nox, a doublet.

noun

1. (countable) The period between sunset and sunrise, when a location faces far away from the sun, thus when the sky is dark.
   How do you sleep at night when you attack your kids like that!?
   Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found. 2013-07-19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34
2. (astronomy, countable) The period of darkness beginning at the end of evening astronomical twilight when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon, and ending at the beginning of morning astronomical twilight.
3. (law, countable) A period of time often defined in the legal system as beginning 30 minutes after sunset, and ending 30 minutes before sunrise.
4. (countable) An evening or night spent at a particular activity.
   a night on the town
   From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away. 2013-06-08, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52
5. (countable) A night (and part of the days before and after it) spent in a place away from home, e.g. a hotel.
   I stayed my friend's house for three nights.
6. (uncountable) Nightfall.
   from noon till night
7. (uncountable) Darkness (due to it being nighttime).
   The cat disappeared into the night.
8. (uncountable) A dark blue colour, midnight blue.
   night:
9. (sports, colloquial) A night's worth of competitions, generally one game.

intj

1. Ellipsis of good night.
   Night, y'all! Thanks for a great evening!

verb

1. To spend a night (in a place), to overnight.
   So I took seat and ate somewhat of my vivers, my horse also feeding upon his fodder, and we nighted in that spot and next morning I set out[.] 1885, Richard F. Burton, Arabian Nights, in 16 volumes, published 2008, page 284