Etimology
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
night (countable and uncountable, plural nights)
(countable) The time when the Sun is below the horizon when the sky is dark.
(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.
(law, countable) A period of time often defined in the legal system as beginning 30 minutes after sunset, and ending 30 minutes before sunrise.
(countable) An evening or night spent at a particular activity.
(countable) A day, or at least a night.
(uncountable) Nightfall.
(uncountable) Darkness (due to it being nighttime).
(uncountable) A dark blue colour, midnight blue.
(sports, colloquial) A night's worth of competitions, generally one game.
Examples
Most animals are awake at day and sleep at night.
The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.
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.
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.
I stayed my friend's house for three nights.
from noon till night
The cat disappeared into the night.
night:
Related words
synonyms
(evening or night spent at a particular activity): evening; see also Thesaurus:nighttime or Thesaurus:evening
(quality of sleep): sleep
(nightfall): dark, dusk, nightfall, sundown, sunset; see also Thesaurus:dusk
(darkness): blackness, darkness, gloom, obscurity, shadow
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "period between sunset and sunrise"): day; see also Thesaurus:daytime
(antonym(s) of "darkness"): brightness, daylight, light
hypernyms
24-hour day
hyponyms
first night
last night
midnight
tomorrow night
tonight
Twelfth Night
yesterday night (rare compared to last night)
interjection
night
Ellipsis of good night.
Examples
Night, y'all! Thanks for a great evening!
verb
night (third-person singular simple present nights, present participle nighting, simple past and past participle nighted)
To spend a night (in a place), to overnight.
Examples
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[.]