Nacht

See also: nacht

German

Etymology

    Inherited from Middle High German naht, from Old High German naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /naxt/, [naχt], [nɑxt]
    • Audio (Germany):(file)
    • Audio (Germany):(file)
    • Audio (Germany):(file)
    • Audio (Austria):(file)

    Noun

    Nacht f (genitive Nacht, plural Nächte, diminutive Nächtchen n)

    1. night
      Die Nacht war lang und frostig.
      The night was long and chilly.
    2. darkness
      Sie wurden von der Nacht verschlungen.
      They were engulfed by the darkness (of the night).

    Usage notes

    • In contemporary German, Nacht is used somewhat differently than English night. Although Nacht can be a general term for the dark hours of the day, when used as a time measurement it refers only to those hours when most ordinary people are in bed (roughly 11 p.m. till 6 a.m.). So while one says in English: “Let's have a beer tonight!”, in German one needs to say: Lass uns heute Abend ein Bier trinken! (“Let's have a beer this evening!”)
    • In English, one says in the night or in the day referring to a time of day, but on that night or on that day referring to a date. German, instead, always uses in with Nacht and always uses an with Tag (except when the latter simply means “time, era”, e.g. in jenen Tagen (in those days)).
    • A (masculine) genitive Nachts occurs only in the phrases des Nachts (at night) and eines Nachts (one night) and alone as the adverbial genitive Nachts (cp. nachts).

    Declension

    Derived terms

    See also

    Further reading

    Hunsrik

    Alternative forms

    • naacht (Wiesemann spelling system)

    Etymology

      Inherited from Middle High German naht, from Old High German naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈnaxt/
      • Rhymes: -axt
      • Syllabification: Nacht

      Noun

      Nacht f (plural Necht)

      1. night
        Die Nacht is kalt.
        The night is cold.

      Further reading

      Low German

      Etymology

        Inherited from Middle Low German nacht, from Old Saxon naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): /naxt/

        Noun

        Nacht f (plural Nachten)

        1. night

        Further reading

        • Der neue SASS: Plattdeutsches Wörterbuch, Plattdeutsch - Hochdeutsch, Hochdeutsch - Plattdeutsch. Plattdeutsche Rechtschreibung, sixth revised edition (2011, →ISBN, Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster)

        North Frisian

        Alternative forms

        Etymology

          Inherited from Old Frisian nacht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

          Noun

          Nacht m or f (plural Nachter)

          1. (Sylt) night

          Pennsylvania German

          Etymology

            Inherited from Middle High German naht, from Old High German naht, from Proto-West Germanic *naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

            Noun

            Nacht f (plural Nachde)

            1. night