nightertale

N1I1G2H4T1E1R1T1A1L1E1

noun

The period of night; nighttime.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounnightertale (plural not attested)
  1. archaicno pluralThe period of night; nighttime.

    All through the nightertale I longed for thee, […]

    1926, Arthur Mache, Notes and Queries, Spurr & Swift, page 14
    3 more examples

    A person (as their books make her) raised up by power divine, only for succour to the French estate, then deeply in distress, in whom, for planting a credit the rather, first the company that towards the Dauphin did conduct her, through all dangerous, as held by the English, where she never was afore, all the way and by nightertale safely did she lead; […]

    1867, Charles Knight, editor, The Pictoral Works of Shakspere: Histories — Volume II, George Routledge & Sons, pages 21–22

    And since Thomas of Gloucester was Arundel's friend, and only God and His Saints knew which way the redeless King would jump, the future was so dangerful that Edmund of York could neither relish his meat nor sleep sound at nightertale.

    1975, Georgette Heyer, My Lord John, Arrow Books, published 2011, →ISBN, page 44

    'Did I offend thee in my japishness, my son? Or did slumber forsake thee a nightertale last?'

    2011, Arthur D Bardswell, The Poor Preachers: The Adventures of the First Lollards, WestBow Press, →ISBN, page 288

    Synonyms: night, nighttide

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe period of night; nighttime.

Origin

  1. Old Norsenáttarþel
  2. Middle Englishnyghtertale
  3. Englishnightertale

Inherited from Middle English nyghtertale, alteration of Old Norse náttarþel.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

nightertale. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nightertale

MLA

“nightertale.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nightertale. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nightertale,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nightertale.

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