Nyght

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of night, meaning the dark part of the day between sunset and sunrise when the sky is unlit by the sun
2. An old variant spelling of the word for the hours of darkness between evening and morning, when the sun is below the horizon
3. A Middle English form of the word denoting the period of darkness that falls between dusk and dawn each day

Etymology: The spelling "nyght" is an old form of "night," with the "gh" standing for a sound that English lost centuries ago. Old English wrote the word "niht," and its middle sound was a throaty fricative like the "ch" in Scottish "loch." Scribes and early printers later used "gh" for that sound, and "y" for "i" was a common spelling habit, so "nyght" came to look like a fancier version of the modern word. Once the throaty sound disappeared, the letters stayed behind as silent letters. The word is ancient and shares a root with Latin "nox" (genitive "noctis") and Greek "nyx," both meaning night. The likeness between Greek "nyx" and this spelling is a coincidence of letters, not a shared history in English.