From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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)
French: minuit (fr)
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
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
Venetan: 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
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.