night
UK[naɪt]US[naɪt]
n
The period of darkness in each twenty-four hours; the time from sunset to sunrise.
n
The period of time between afternoon and bedtime; an evening.
Etymology
The word 'night' descends directly from the Old English 'niht', which is related to the German 'Nacht' and the Dutch 'nacht'. These all trace back to the Proto-Germanic 'nahts', a term of great antiquity. This Germanic root finds its deeper origin in the Proto-Indo-European 'nekwt-', meaning 'night', a form also ancestral to the Latin 'nox' (genitive 'noctis') and the Greek 'nyx'. The word's journey represents a remarkably stable linguistic concept, with its core meaning of 'the dark period of the day' remaining essentially unchanged across thousands of years and numerous languages, from its ancient Indo-European utterance to its common use in modern English.
Analysis
The word 'night' is a simplex word of Germanic origin. It functions as a single, unanalyzable morpheme in modern English.
Examples
The stars are brightest on a clear, moonless night.
We went out for dinner and a movie last night.
The animal is most active during the night.