Nacht

See also: nacht

German

Etymology

From Middle High German nacht, from Old High German naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts. Akin to Dutch nacht, English night, Danish nat, Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /naxt/
  • audio (Germany)(file)
  • audio (Austria)(file)

Noun

Nacht f (genitive Nacht, plural Nächte)

  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!”)
  • A masculine genitive Nachts occurs only in the dated idioms des Nachts (“at night”) and eines Nachts (“one night”).

Declension
Declension of Nacht
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Nacht die Nächte
genitive einer der Nacht der Nächte
dative einer der Nacht den Nächten
accusative eine die Nacht die Nächte

(times of day) Tageszeit; Morgendämmerung, Morgen, Mittag, Nachmittag, Abenddämmerung, Abend, Nacht, Mitternacht (Category: de:Times of day)

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Hunsrik

Alternative forms
  • naacht (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Old High German naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts (“night”), from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /naxt/

Noun

Nacht f (plural Necht)

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

Further reading

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German nacht, from Old High German naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts. Compare German Nacht, Dutch nacht, English night.

Noun

Nacht f (plural Nachde)

  1. night
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