forenight

F4O1R1E1N1I1G2H4T1

noun

The evening time, between twilight and bedtime.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounforenight (plural forenights)

plural forenights · alternative fore-night

  1. ScotlandThe evening time, between twilight and bedtime.

    the rancher, who has sheep to lose, sits shivering in his log house through the long forenights with a Marlin rifle handy, while the famished timber wolves prowl about his clearing.

    1909, Harold Edward Bindloss, “Chapter 1”, in The Greater Power
    2 more examples

    Yes, it is a low fire with an immense iron crane over it, on which half a dozen pots at a time can swing in comfort; a hearth on which logs of wood and peat can burn, a hearth that a dozen happy and contented faces can scarce encircle on a winter's forenight.

    1895, William Gordon Stables, “Book I”, in On to the Rescue: A tale of the Indian Mutiny

    “Then I minded the tales my father used to tell me in the winter forenight of Wicked Wat Fergus of Craignesslin, how he used to rise from his bed and blow his horn and ride off to the Whig-hunting

    1900, S. R. Crockett, The House on the Muir

    Synonyms: eve, eventide, undern

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe evening time, between twilight and bedtime.

Origin

  1. Old Englishforanniht
  2. Middle Englishfore-niht
  3. Englishforenight

From Middle English fore-niht, from Old English foranniht, equivalent to fore- + night. Cognate with Dutch voornacht, German Vornacht.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

forenight. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forenight

MLA

“forenight.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forenight. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forenight,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forenight.

Source: forenight on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.