nyght

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English niht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

Alternative forms

• naht, night, nighte, niȝt, niht, nyghte, nyȝt, nyȝte, nyhte

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nixt/, [niçt]
• (dialectal or Late ME) IPA^(key): /niːt/
• Rhymes: -ixt

Noun

nyght (plural nyghtes or nyght or nyghte)

1. night
   • 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “Here Bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunt́burẏ”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 2, recto, lines 9-10:

     And smale foweles maken melodye / That slepen al the nyght with open iye

     And small birds make melodies, / sleeping all night with an open eye.

Related terms

• fourtenyght
• nihterne
• nyghten
• nyghtertale
• nyghtly
• nyȝtschade
• sevenyght

 

Descendants

• English: night
• Geordie English: neet
• Scots: nicht, neicht
• Yola: neeght, nieght, nyeght

References

• “night, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From nighte (noun).

Verb

nyght

1. Alternative form of nyghten