night

play

noun \ ˈnīt \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

Definition of night

1 :the time from dusk to dawn when no sunlight is visible

The store is open all night.

2 a :an evening or night taken as an occasion or point of time

the opening night

b :an evening set aside for a particular purpose

Thursdays is game night in our house.

3 a :the quality or state of being dark

approached the enemy's camp under cover of night

b :a condition or period felt to resemble the darkness of night: such as

(1) :a period of dreary inactivity or affliction

the glories of Roman civilization were lost in a gloomy night of ignorance, superstition, and barbarism
—R. A. Hall

(2) :absence of moral values

… that night which has for many centuries obscured our holy religion …
—Joseph Priestley

c :the beginning of darkness :nightfall

worked in the fields until night

—

nightless

play \ˈnīt-ləs\ adjective

See night defined for English-language learners

See night defined for kids

Examples of night in a Sentence

Who are you calling at this time of night?
It's eleven o'clock at night.
She and her husband both work at night and sleep during the day.
The store's open all night.
They were up all night long playing video games.
Let's stop for the night and get a hotel.
a cold, rainy night in the city
I stayed up late five nights in a row.
Last night, I had the strangest dream.
Spend six nights and seven days on a tropical island in the Caribbean!

Recent Examples of night from the Web

They were led by Jabed Hussain, whose scooter was stolen in one of five incidents on the same night this month in east London.

— The Economist, "New fears, old menaceAcid attacks have a long history in Britain," 20 July 2017
The duo stepped out for the second night in a row, this time at Vandal Restaurant in New York City.

— kaleigh fasanella, Teen Vogue, "Bella Thorne Spotted Wearing a Purple Bikini Out With Scott Disick," 20 July 2017
Only one character garnered more attention, and that was—unsurprisingly—Maisie Williams’s fearsome Arya, who had a busy night.

— laura bradley, HWD, "Your Jokes About Ed Sheeran Only Make Game of Thrones Stronger," 17 July 2017
Then one night, a socially inept and grief-struck millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works.

— michelle matthews | mmatthews@al.com, AL.com, "Things to do in Mobile, July 16-22," 16 July 2017
Calderone said he's also added trivia and bingo nights to the bar.

— becky jacobs, Post-Tribune, "Highland bar reaches final permit appeal after fatal 2015 stabbing," 13 July 2017
The lodge costs around $900 per night on the weekends.

— lauren smith, House Beautiful, "This Tiger Lodge Will Bring Your Safari Dreams to Life," 10 July 2017
Sometimes, the polar night jet dips into the warmer air of the lower atmosphere.

— kai sinclair, Science | AAAS, "Glider aims for new heights and rare scientific data," 10 July 2017
When the seizures do not stop, the costs can be huge: $70,000 to fly him to a children’s hospital, where the room alone costs $10,000 a night, Ben Long said.

— jordan rau, Kaiser Health News, "Millions Of Kids Fall Outside Senate Plan To Shield Disabled From Medicaid Cuts," 10 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'night.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of night

Middle English night, niht, going back to Old English nieht, niht, umlauted form of _{neaht, næht,} going back to Germanic *naht- (whence Old Saxon & Old High German naht "night," Old Norse nótt, nátt, Gothic nahts), going back to Indo-European *nok^w-t-, whence Old Irish innocht "tonight," Welsh peunoeth "every night" (Welsh nos "night" perhaps going back to *nok^wt-stu-), Latin noct-, nox "night," Old Church Slavic noštĭ, Lithuanian naktìs, Greek nykt-, nýx, Sanskrit nakt-, nak, Hittite nekuz "in the evening" (from an oblique case stem *nek^wt-)

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

night Synonyms

Synonyms

dark, darkness, nighttime

Antonyms

day, daytime

Related Words

dusk, evening, gloaming, nightfall, twilight; midnight

Near Antonyms

dawn, daybreak, sunrise, sunup; forenoon, morning; high noon, midday, noon, noonday, noontide, noontime; afternoon

Other Calendar Terms

antedate, estival, gloaming, luster, sesquicentennial

night

adjective

Definition of night

1 :of, relating to, or associated with the night

night air

2 :intended for use at night

a night lamp

3 a :existing, occurring, or functioning at night

night baseball

a night nurse

b :active or functioning best at night

night people

See night defined for English-language learners

Examples of night in a Sentence

He is taking a night flight.
a night manager at the supermarket
This is the last night bus.

Origin and Etymology of night

attributive use of ¹night

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

night Synonyms

Synonyms

nocturnal, nightly, nighttime

Antonyms

daily, diurnal

Related Words

late; midnight, overnight

Near Antonyms

noon

NIGHT Defined for English Language Learners

night

play

noun

Definition of night for English Language Learners

: the time of darkness between one day and the next : the part of the day when no light from the sun can be seen and most people and animals sleep
: the darkness that occurs during the nighttime
: the final part of the day that is usually after work, school, etc., and before you go to bed : the early part of the night