middle-of-the-night
UK[ˌmɪdl əv ðə ˈnaɪt]US[ˌmɪdl əv ðə ˈnaɪt]
adj
happening or experienced in the middle part of the night, especially very late at night or very early in the morning
Etymology
The term is a modern English compound, directly constructed from common Germanic and Old English vocabulary. "Middle" derives from Old English middel, related to the Proto-Germanic medjaz and ultimately the Proto-Indo-European medhyo-, meaning "center." "Night" comes from Old English niht, from Proto-Germanic nahts, tracing back to the PIE nókʷts. The phrase "middle of the night" has been used for centuries to denote the central, darkest, and quietest period of darkness. In the 20th century, this descriptive prepositional phrase was lexicalized into a fixed compound adjective, typically hyphenated, to efficiently describe events or states characteristic of that specific time, such as awakenings or thoughts.
Analysis
This is a fixed compound adjective formed from a prepositional phrase. It is not productively segmented into smaller, independent morphemes in modern English without losing its idiomatic meaning. Its components are the words "middle," "of," "the," and "night."
Examples
I was startled by a middle-of-the-night phone call.
She often has middle-of-the-night cravings for a snack.
Waking up with a middle-of-the-night anxiety attack is exhausting.