- night-night
[night-night 词源字典] - nursery talk, "good-night," 1896; form nighty-night is attested from 1876.[night-night etymology, night-night origin, 英语词源]
- night-owl (n.)
- "owl which flies at night," 1590s; applied since 1846 (American English) to persons who are up or out late at night. Compare night-hawk, also French hirondelle de nuit "prostitute," literally "night-swallow."
- night-watch (n.)
- "guard kept during the night," late Old English; see night + watch (n.).
- night-work (n.)
- 1590s, from night + work (n.). Old English had nihtweorc.
- nightcap (n.)
- also night-cap, late 14c., "covering for the head, worn in bed," from night + cap (n.). In the alcoholic sense, it is attested from 1818. American English sense of "final event in a sporting contest" (especially the second game of a baseball double-header) is from 1939.
- nightclub (n.)
- also night-club, "club open at night," 1894, from night + club (n.) in the social sense.
- nightfall (n.)
- 1700; see night + fall (n.).
- nightgown (n.)
- also night-gown, c. 1400, from night + gown.
- nightie (n.)
- 1871, short for nightgown; originally a children's word.
- nightingale (n.)
- Old English næctigalæ, nihtegale, compound formed in Proto-Germanic (cognates: Dutch nachtegaal, German Nachtigall) from *nakht- "night" (see night) + *galon "to sing," related to Old English giellan "yell" (see yell (v.)). With parasitic -n- that appeared mid-13c. Dutch nightingale "frog" is attested from 1769. In Japanese, "nightingale floor" is said to be the term for boards that creak when you walk on them.
French rossignol (Old French lousseignol) is, with Spanish ruiseñor, Portuguese rouxinol, Italian rosignuolo, from Vulgar Latin *rosciniola, dissimilated from Latin lusciniola "nightingale," diminutive of luscinia "nightingale." - nightjar (n.)
- nocturnal bird, goatsucker, 1620s, from night + jar (v.). So called for the "jarring" sounds made by the male when the female is brooding, which have been described as a "churring trill that seems to change direction as it rises and falls." An Old English word for it was nihthræfn "night raven."
- nightlong (adj.)
- Old English nihtlang; see night + -long.
- nightly (adj.)
- Old English nihtlic "nocturnal, of the night, at night;" see night + -ly (1). As an adverb, Middle English nihtlich, from the adjective.
- nightmare (n.)
- late 13c., "an evil female spirit afflicting sleepers with a feeling of suffocation," compounded from night + mare (3) "goblin that causes nightmares, incubus." Meaning shifted mid-16c. from the incubus to the suffocating sensation it causes. Sense of "any bad dream" first recorded 1829; that of "very distressing experience" is from 1831. Cognate with Middle Dutch nachtmare, German Nachtmahr.
- nightmarish (adj.)
- 1834, from nightmare + -ish. Related: Nightmarishly; nightmarishness.
- nightshade (n.)
- Old English nihtscada, literally "shade of night," perhaps in allusion to the poisonous berries. A common Germanic compound, cognates: Dutch nachtschade, German Nachtschatten.
- nightspot (n.)
- also night spot, "nightclub," 1936, from night (n.) + spot (n.) "place."
- nightstick (n.)
- also night-stick, 1887, from night + stick (n.). So called because it was carried on night patrols.
- nighttime (n.)
- also night-time, c. 1400, from night + time (n.).
- nigra
- see nigger.
