Meanings
nightly1
- not comparableHappening or appearing in the night; night-time; nocturnal.
nightly dews
1 more example
A cobweb spread above a blossom Is sufficient to protect It from nightly chill.
1871, John Tyndall, Fragments of Science: A Series of Detached Essays, Lectures, and Reviews - not comparablePerforming, occurring, or taking place every night.
The dog demanded to go out for his nightly walk.
- not comparableUsed in the night.
nightly2
- not comparableEvery night.
He checks his email nightly.
3 more examples
It was the Nightingale, and not the Larke, / That pier'st the fearefull hollow of thine eare, / Nightly she sings on yond Pomgranet tree,
c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]This tunnel assumed some measure of importance during the second world war, when it was used nightly as an air raid shelter for multiple unit electric trains which were propelled over the branch by a steam engine.
1952 December, R. C. Riley, “By Rail to Kemp Town”, in Railway Magazine, page 836I practice nightly, I try to keep ahead / This art of surfacing is all but dead
1979, The Boomtown Rats, “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing
plural nightlies
- computingA build of a software program with the latest changes, released every night.
Depending on how brave you are, you can even set it to update to the “bleeding edge nightlies” instead of just the point release nightlies if you want to really see the cutting edge of WordPress core development.
2014, Adam Onishi, Pro WordPress Theme Development, Apress, →ISBN, page 349
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivehappening every night
adverbat the end of each day
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
nightly · adjective
- Old Englishnihtlīċ
- Middle Englishnyȝtly
- Englishnightly
From Middle English nyȝtly, nihtlich, nihtlic, from Old English nihtlīċ, nihtelīċ (“nocturnal, nightly, of the night, at night”), equivalent to night + -ly. Cognate with Scots nichtlie (“nightly”), West Frisian nachtlik (“nightly, nocturnal”), Dutch nachtelijk (“nightly, nocturnal”), German nächtlich (“nocturnal, nightly”), Danish natlig (“nightly”), Swedish nattlig (“nightly, nocturnal”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →nightly · adverb, noun
- Old English*nihtlīċe“nightly”
- Middle Englishnyghtly
- Englishnightly
From Middle English nyghtly, neghtly, from Old English *nihtlīċe (“nightly”), equivalent to night + -ly.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian нощем, всяка нощ
- нощем (noštem)every night
- всяка нощ (vsjaka nošt)every night
Danish natlig
- natligoccurring every night
Esperanto nokte
- nokteevery night
Finnish jokaöinen, jokailtainen
- jokaöinenoccurring every night
- jokailtainenoccurring every night
- joka yöevery night
- joka iltaevery night
Hindi रात्रिक, रात्रिक
- रात्रिक (rātrik)occurring every night
- रात्रिक (rātrik)every night
Hungarian éjjelente, éjjelenként
- éjjelenteevery night
- éjjelenkéntevery night
- éjszakánkéntevery night
Italian notturno, di notte
- notturnooccurring every night
- di notteevery night
- ogni notteevery night
Polish conocny
- conocnyoccurring every night
Russian ежено́щный, ежено́чный
- ежено́щный (ježenóščnyj)occurring every night
- ежено́чный (ježenóčnyj)occurring every night
- ежено́щно (ježenóščno)every night
- ежено́чно (ježenóčno)every night
- ка́ждую ночь (kážduju nočʹ)every night
Spanish nocturno, cada noche
- nocturnooccurring every night
- cada nocheevery night
Ukrainian щоні́чний, щоні́чно
- щоні́чний (ščoníčnyj)occurring every night
- щоні́чно (ščoníčno)every night
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with nightly
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
nightly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nightly
“nightly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nightly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nightly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nightly.
Source: nightly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.