From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”).
midnight (countable and uncountable, plural midnights)
- The middle of the night: the sixth temporal hour, equidistant between sunset and sunrise.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:midnight
- Antonyms: noon, midday
Thanks to its sonar, the narwhal can remain active even at midnight, unhindered by the darkness.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 20:7:And vpon the first day of the weeke, when the disciples came together to breake bread, Paul preached vnto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speach vntill midnight.
- Twelve o'clock at night exactly.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:midnight
1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza IV, pages 50–51:She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good! / She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! / They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years, / Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, / Cold, on the stroke of midnight, / The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
- (dice games) Synonym of boxcars (“a pair of sixes”)
- (twelve o'clock): When attached to a specific date, such as "midnight on 12 July", it may be ambiguous as to whether the time refers to 00:00 (start of day) or 24:00 (end of day); this must be resolved with context.
middle of the night
- Arabic: مُنْتَصَف اَللَّيْل m (muntaṣaf al-layl)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܲܠܓܵܐ ܕܠܲܝܠܹܐ m (pālga d-layle)
- Big Nambas: p'ət lihat
- Bikol Central: matanga (bcl)
- Bulgarian: средно́щ (bg) f (srednóšt)
- Catalan: mitjanit (ca) f
- Cebuano: tunganggabii
- Chinese:
- Hakka: 星光半夜
- Hokkien: 三更半暝 (zh-min-nan)
- Mandarin: 三更 (zh), 夜半 (zh) (yèbàn), 夜半三更 (yèbànsāngēng), 三更半夜 (zh), 黑更半夜 (zh), 半夜三更 (zh)
- Esperanto: noktmezo, noktomezo
- Finnish: keskiyö (fi)
- Galician: medianoite f, contecinia f
- German: Mitternacht (de) f
- Greek:
- Ancient: μεσονύκτιον n (mesonúktion)
- Gujarati: મધરાત (madhrāt), મધ્યરાત્રિ (madhyarātri)
- Hindi: आधी रात f (ādhī rāt), आधीरात (hi) f (ādhīrāt), अधरात (hi) f (adhrāt), मध्यरात (hi) f (madhyarāt), मध्यरात्रि (hi) f (madhyarātri)
- Hungarian: éjfél (hu)
- Ingrian: pooliöö, syänöö
- Japanese: 夜中 (ja) (yonaka), 真夜中 (ja) (mayonaka), 夜半 (ja) (yahan)
- Kapampangan: kapitangang-bengi, kapitnang-bengi
- Karok: ikxarám'aachip
- Korean: 한밤중 (ko) (hanbamjung)
- Kumyk: гечорта (geçorta)
- Latin: media nox f, (Medieval) intempestum n
- Malayalam: അർദ്ധരാത്രി (aṟddharātri)
- Maori: waenganui pō, tūruawē pō
- Old English: midniht f
- Old French: mie nuit f
- Oromo: waarii
- Southern Ohlone: orpehuas ershe
- Spanish: medianoche (es) f, madrugada (es) f
- Tagalog: hatinggabi (tl)
- Turkish: gece yarısı (tr)
- Urdu: آدھی رات f (ādhī rāt)
- Walloon: emey nute (wa)
- Zazaki: nimsew
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- Abenaki: nôwitebakad
- Afrikaans: middernag
- Akan: anadwo-kɔnkɔn
- Alabama: niɬhóota, tankatóohcha
- Albanian: mesnatë (sq) f
- Alemannic German: Mitternacht
- Amharic: እኩለ ሌሊት (ʾəkulä lelit)
- Arabic: مُنْتَصَف اَللَّيْل m (muntaṣaf al-layl)
- Armenian: կեսգիշեր (hy) (kesgišer)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܲܠܓܵܐ ܕܠܲܝܠܹܐ m (pālga d-layle)
- Asturian: medianueche (ast) m
- Aymara: chika aruma
- Azerbaijani: gecə yarısı
- Bambara: dugutila
- Bashkir: төн уртаһы (tön urtahı), ярты төн (yartı tön)
- Basque: gauerdi
- Belarusian: по́ўнач f (póŭnač)
- Bengali: মধ্যরাত (bn) (moddhorat)
- Bikol Central: matanga (bcl)
- Bislama: medelnaet
- Breton: hanternoz (br) m, kreiznoz (br)
- Brunei Malay: tangah malam
- Bulgarian: полуно́щ (bg) f (polunóšt)
- Burmese: သန်းခေါင် (my) (san:hkaung)
- Catalan: mitjanit (ca) f
- Cebuano: tunganggabii
- Chamicuro: shawalasko
- Chamorro: tatalo' puengi
- Chechen: буьйсанан юкъ (büüsanan juqʼ)
- Cherokee: ᏒᏃᏱ (svnoyi)
- Cheyenne: -sétôhtaa'eve
- Chichewa: pakati pa usiku
- Chinese:
- Hokkien: 半暝 (zh-min-nan) (poàⁿ-mi)
- Mandarin: 半夜 (zh) (bànyè), 子夜 (zh) (zǐyè), 午夜 (zh) (wǔyè)
- Cornish: hanter nos f
- Corsican: mezanotte f, meza notte f, mezzanotte f
- Crimean Tatar: yarı gece
- Czech: půlnoc (cs) f
- Danish: midnat (da) n
- Dutch: middernacht (nl) m
- Emilian: mezanot f
- Erzya: пелеве (peľeve)
- Esperanto: noktmezo, noktomezo
- Estonian: kesköö (et)
- Evenki: долбонӣ дулинин (dolboņī duliņin), долбонӣ дулмак (dolboņī dulmak)
- Ewe: zãtitina
- Faroese: midnátt f
- Finnish: keskiyö (fi), puoliyö (fi)
- French: minuit (fr) f
- Friulian: miegegnot f
- Galician: medianoite f
- Georgian: შუაღამე (ka) (šuaɣame)
- German: Mitternacht (de) f
- Greek: μεσάνυχτα (el) n pl (mesánychta)
- Ancient Greek: μεσονύκτιον n (mesonúktion)
- Griko: ημισυνύττα f (imisinìtta)
- Greenlandic: unnuap-qeqqa
- Guaraní: pyharepyte
- Gujarati: મધરાત (madhrāt)
- Hausa: tsakad dare
- Hawaiian: aumoe, ʻauinapō
- Hebrew: חֲצוֹת הַלַּיְלָה (he) f (khatsòt-haláyla), חֲצוֹת (he) f (khatsót)
- Hindi: आधी रात f (ādhī rāt), आधीरात (hi) f (ādhīrāt), अधरात (hi) f (adhrāt), मध्यरात (hi) f (madhyarāt), मध्यरात्रि (hi) f (madhyarātri)
- Hungarian: éjfél (hu)
- Hunsrik: Hallebnacht f
- Icelandic: miðnætti (is) n, lágnætti (is) n
- Ido: nokto-mezo (io)
- Igbo: ime abali
- Indonesian: tengah malam (id)
- Ingush: бийсан юкъ (biı̇san juqʼ)
- Interlingua: medienocte
- Irish: meán oíche f
- Istriot: miezanuotto
- Italian: mezzanotte (it) f
- Japanese: 午前0時 (gozen reiji), 真夜中 (ja) (まよなか, mayonaka), 正子 (ja) (しょうし, shōshi)
- Kabuverdianu: meia-noti
- Kalmyk: сөөни өрәл (sööni öräl), сө дүл (sö dül)
- Kannada: ಮಧ್ಯರಾತ್ರಿ (kn) (madhyarātri)
- Kapampangan: kapitangang bengi
- Karakalpak: ярым ақшам, түн ортасы түн жартысы
- Karelian: keskiyö, syväinyö
- Kashubian: norda f
- Kazakh: жарым түн (jarym tün), түн ортасы (tün ortasy)
- Khakas: орты хараа (ortı xaraa)
- Khmer: អធ្រាត្រ (km) (ʼatthriət)
- Komi-Zyrian: вой шӧр (voj šör)
- Korean: 자정(子正) (ko) (jajeong)
- Kumyk: гечорта (geçorta)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: نیوەشەو (nîweşew)
- Northern Kurdish: nîvê şevê (ku), nîvşev (ku)
- Kyrgyz: түн ортосу (tün ortosu)
- Ladin: medanuote f
- Lao: ທຽງຄືນ (thīang khư̄n)
- Latgalian: pušnakts f
- Latin: media nox f, intempestum n
- Latvian: pusnakts m
- Limburgish: middernach (li)
- Lithuanian: vidurnaktis m
- Lombard: mezzanott f (Milanese dialect)
- Low German:
- German Low German: Middernacht f
- Luganda: wakati muttumbi
- Luxembourgish: Mëtternuecht f, Hallefnuecht (lb) f
- Macedonian: полноќ f (polnoḱ)
- Malagasy: mamatonalina (mg)
- Malay: tengah malam (ms)
- Malayalam: അർദ്ധരാത്രി (aṟddharātri)
- Maltese: nofsillejl
- Manx: mean oie
- Maori: weherua, weherua pō
- Marathi: मध्यरात्र (madhyarātra)
- Mari:
- Eastern Mari: йӱдпел (jüdpel)
- Western Mari: йыдпел (jydpel)
- Megleno-Romanian: pónoş
- Mirandese: meia nuite f
- Moksha: пялеве (päľeve), векучка (vekučka)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: шөнө дунд (šönö dund)
- Nahuatl: tlahcoyohual
- Nauruan: atugagan (na)
- Navajo: tłʼéʼííłnííʼ
- Neapolitan: mezanott' f
- Nepali: अधरात (adharāt), मध्यरात (madhyarāt)
- Nogai: юванлав (yuvanlav), семируьв (semirüv)
- Norman: migniet f (Guernsey)
- Northern Sami: gaskaidja
- Northern Sotho: bošegogare
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: midnatt (no) m or f
- Nynorsk: midnatt f
- Occitan: mièjanuèch (oc) f, mièjanuèit (oc) f
- Ossetian: ӕмби́сӕхсӕв (æmbísæxsæv)
- Papiamentu: meyanochi
- Pashto: نيمه شپه (ps) f (nímašpa)
- Persian: نیمه شب (fa) (nime šab), نیمهشب (nime-šab), نصف شب (nesf-e šab)
- Piedmontese: mesaneuit
- Plains Cree: ᐊᐱᐦᑕᑎᐱᐢᑲᐤ (apihtatipiskaw)
- Polish: północ (pl) f
- Portuguese: meia-noite (pt) f
- Quechua: chawpi tuta
- Romanian: miezul nopții (ro), miez de noapte (ro), mijloc de noapte n
- Moldavian: мезул нопций (mezul nopții)
- Romansch: mesanotg f
- Russian: по́лночь (ru) f (pólnočʹ)
- Rwanda-Rundi: igicuku class 7/8, igi-cugu
- Sanskrit: अर्धरात्र (sa) (ardharātra)
- Sardinian: mesanote f, mesanoti f
- Scots: midnicht
- Scottish Gaelic: meadhan-oidhche m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: по́ноћ f
- Roman: pónoć f
- Shor: орта тӱн
- Sicilian: menzannòtti f, menzannùotti f (Palermo dialect)
- Slovak: polnoc f
- Slovene: polnoč (sl) f
- Somali: habeen badh
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: połnoc f
- Upper Sorbian: połnóc f
- Southern Altai: тӱн ортозы (tün ortozï)
- Spanish: medianoche (es) f
- Sranan Tongo: mindrineti
- Swedish: midnatt (sv) c
- Tabasaran: гьацӏишвар (hac̣iš°ar)
- Tagalog: hatinggabi (tl)
- Tajik: ними шаб (nim-i šab), нисфи шаб (nisf-i šab)
- Tamil: நள்ளிரவு (ta) (naḷḷiravu)
- Tatar: төн уртасы (tön urtası)
- Telugu: నడిరేయి (te) (naḍirēyi)
- Thai: เที่ยงคืน (th) (tîiang-kʉʉn)
- Tibetan: ནམ་གུང (nam gung)
- Tigrinya: ፍርቂ ለይቲ (fərḳi läyti)
- Tofa: түн оъртусу
- Tok Pisin: biknait (tpi)
- Tundra Nenets: талв (talw°)
- Turkish: gece yarısı (tr)
- Turkmen: ýary gije
- Udmurt: уйшор (ujšor)
- Ukrainian: пі́вніч (uk) f (pívnič)
- Urdu: آدھی رات f (ādhī rāt), نصف شب (nisf śab)
- Uyghur: يېرىم كىچە (yërim kiche)
- Uzbek: yarim kecha, yarim tun
- Venetian: mezanote f
- Veps: keskö, pol’ö
- Vietnamese: nửa đêm (vi)
- Vilamovian: mytułnaocht
- Volapük: zeneit (vo)
- Võro: kesküü
- Walloon: meynute (wa)
- Waray-Waray: katutngâ
- Welsh: canol nos (cy), hanner nos (cy) m
- West Frisian: midnacht
- Wolof: xaaji-guddi
- Yakut: түүн үөһэ (tüün üöhe)
- Yiddish: האַלבע נאַכט f (halbe nakht)
- Zazaki: nimsew
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midnight (not comparable)
- (poetic) Utterly dark or black.
2013, Sharon Ricklin, Ravenswynd Legends, page 143:Free and falling, his midnight hair flowed out all around us like a silk canopy.