Etymology Map
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Night

3 stages from Proto-Germanic to English.

Today it means the time of darkness between sunset and sunrise

Where does the word "night" come from? It comes from Proto-Germanic nahts, passing through Old English before entering English (1500s).

1
Stage 1 of 3
nahts
Proto-Germanic · ancient
"night"
cognate with Latin 'nox, noctis', as in 'nocturnal'
2
Stage 2 of 3
niht
Old English · 700s-1000s
"night"
Germanic peoples counted time in nights; 'fortnight' is 'fourteen nights'
3
Stage 3 of 3
night
English · 1500s
"night"
the 'gh' keeps a throat sound, still heard in German 'Nacht', that English lost in speech
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Read the full story

Night’s story begins in Proto-Germanic: nahts meant “night.” Cognate with Latin 'nox, noctis', as in 'nocturnal'. By 700s-1000s, the word had taken hold in Old English as niht. Germanic peoples counted time in nights; 'fortnight' is 'fourteen nights'. It reached English by 1500s as night. The 'gh' keeps a throat sound, still heard in German 'Nacht', that English lost in speech. Today, night means the time of darkness between sunset and sunrise.