nighttime

What it means

1. countableuncountableThe hours of darkness between sunset and sunrise; the night.

   Nighttime fell like the opening / In the final act of the beginning of time

   1986, R.E.M., “Hyena”, in Lifes Rich Pageant

   1 more example

   Smith Barney, for example, goes so far as to shift the hours during which taxi rides home are expensable as nighttime lengthens and shortens, says Moszkowski.

   1996, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, volume 50, number 7, page 52

   Synonyms: nightertale, nighttide, night, scotoperiod, skotoperiod

In a sentence

Nighttime fell like the opening / In the final act of the beginning of time

1986, R.E.M., “Hyena”, in Lifes Rich Pageant

Where it comes from

1. Middle Englishnyght tyme
2. Englishnighttime

From Middle English nyght tyme, nyȝttyme, equivalent to night + time. Compare Dutch nachttijd, German Nachtzeit, Danish nattetid, Swedish nattetid. Compare also Middle English nyȝter tyme (“nighttime”), from Old Norse náttartími, nætrtími (“nighttime”).