nightlyadj.
/ˈnʌɪtli/, U.S. /ˈnaɪtli/ 1.
a. That comes, happens, or occurs during the night; accomplished or done at night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective]
nightlyeOE
nightyc1475
nocturnal1485
noxiala1500
nightish1530
nocturn?1530
nighterly1559
owlish1596
night-tripping1598
epinyctal1600
nighted?1606
nightern1615
noctual1632
nocturnous1727
overnight1870
nitely1970
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) lvi. 433 Hæbbe eower ælc his sweord be his ðeo for nihtlecum ege.
OE Blickling Homilies 11 Anra gehwylc hæfde sweord ofer his hype for nihtlicum ege.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxiv. 224 On ðære sæ swuncon cristes leorningcnihtas on nihtlicum rewette.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 9 (MED) Hit is riht þat we forleten and forsaken nihtliche deden, þo ben þe werkes of þiesternesse..swo þat we gon a dai bicumeliche.
a1400 Psalter (Harl.) xc. 5 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 225 (MED) Noght saltou drede fra nihtlic radnesse [L. a timore nocturno].
c1400 Last Age of Church (1840) p. xxiv Þat ben a nyȝtly drede, an arwe fleynge in day.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) viii. 122 There was never nyghtely fantome So ferre in errour.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Plato in Panoplie Epist. 221 So I say of nightly sleepings taken abusiuely.
1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. i. sig. B3 I, I, my nightly dreames haue tolde me this.
1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 54 All my Plants I save from nightly ill, Of noisom winds, and..vapours chill.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 258 These had perish'd in the nightly War, But for my Presence and protecting Care.
1721 E. Young Revenge i. i By nightly march he purpos'd to surprize The Moorish camp.
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 177 Killed in a nightly broil.
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. xliii. 193 The processionary caterpillars make only nightly sorties from their nests.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. vii. 66 Its greatest nightly freezing has been three-quarters of an inch.
1894 W. E. Gladstone tr. Horace Odes ii. xiii. 7 Such a man..shed the blood Of his own guest by nightly stroke.
1968 W. H. Auden in New Yorker 27 Apr. 43/1 Electric lamps allow nightly Cell meetings where subcultures may hold palaver.
1992 New Scientist 12 Sept. 17/1 Biologists..have found that the nightly activities of..[the] kangaroo rat, are tied to the phases of the Moon.
b. That occurs every night; (of food, medicine, etc.) taken every night, esp. by a specified person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective] > occurring every specific number of nights
nightlya1599
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 24 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) The which word [sc. livery]..is derived of livering or delivering forth their nightly foode.
1659 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1872) II. 185 Ane nichtlie watch to be within this burghe.
1709 A. Pope Chaucer's January & May in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 178 This was his nightly Dream, his daily Care.
1735 A. Pope Of Char. of Women 7 The daily Anodyne, and nightly Draught.
1794 Ld. Hood in Ld. Nelson Dispatches & Lett. (1845) I. 400 Every boat assembled at sunset for orders, and the cheerfulness with which the Officers and Men performed this nightly duty is very much to be admired.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II ii. lviii. 90 Hark! from the mosque the nightly solemn sound, The Muezzin's call.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 29 Sept. 589/1 The nightly pint of beer, instead of assimilating naturally.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Strange Case Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde ii. 21 In the course of his nightly patrols, he had long grown accustomed [etc.].
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xvii. 68 He had long since given up his nightly reading of the Bible.
1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 262 Jerry is up to his nightly strafe.
1986 D. Koontz Strangers i. ii. 94 The nightly sedative was augmented with a diazepam compound during the day.
2. † b. Dark as, or with, night (literal and figurative); that resembles night. Obsolete.
a. Belonging to, peculiar to, or characteristic of night; used at night; active or operating by night.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) v. 221 He hwon hnappode þærrihte hine drehton nihtlice gedwimor.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iii. 97 Here nothing breeds, Vnlesse the nightly Owle or fatall Rauen. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iv. iii. 15 Good Emillia, Giue me my nightly wearing, and adiue. View more context for this quotation
1617 tr. M. A. de Dominis Serm. upon Romanes xiii. 12 xiii. 12 If we be possessed with a nightly, drowsie silence in Gods businesse.
1682 J. Dryden Religio Laici 1 As those nightly Tapers disappear When Day's bright Lord ascends our Hemisphere.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 11 Some pilgrim, thither led, With many a tale repays the nightly bed.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho I. iii. 80 The voice of the shepherd calling his wandering flocks to the nightly fold.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. vii. 120 Am I but doomed to draw a brief and glittering train along the nightly darkness?
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 93 I looked out on the pond..and, as the sun arose, I saw it throwing off its nightly clothing of mist.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 109 Let the nightly hunters who lay snares and nets be everywhere prohibited.
1908 R. Broughton Mamma v. 45 Silence save of the nightly traffic roaring and ringing and horning past outside.
1992 Time 16 Mar. 58/1 The host of the Tonight show is..not just a walking, talking soporific for millions of Americans..but a kind of nightly tour guide.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > dark as or with night
nightlyc1450
midnight1664
c1450 tr. Jan van Ruusbroec Treat. Perfection Sons of God (BL Add.) (1957) 252 (MED) The state of iewes in the olde testamente was nyȝtly, and þerfore þay walked in derknesse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) i. ii. 68 Good Hamlet cast thy nightly [1604 nighted] colour off.
1748 J. Thomson Castle of Indolence xxxi. 277 I who have spent my nights and nightly days In this soul-deadening place.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. vii. iii. 416 War-thunder mingling with the roar of the nightly main.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > evening primrose and allied flowers
tree primrose1629
primrose tree1728
Onagra1735
oenothera1754
night primrose1759
evening primrose1761
night willow-herb1770
nightly primrose1785
sundrop1785
godetia1836
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xix. 263 Tree Primrose, a Virginian plant... The corol is of a fine yellow, shut during the day, but expanding in the evening; whence some call it Nightly Primrose.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
nightlyadv.
/ˈnʌɪtli/, U.S. /ˈnaɪtli/ 1. Every night, whenever it is night. Cf. daily adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb] > every night
nightly1441
nocturnally1543
1441 in A. H. Thompson Visitations Relig. Houses Diocese Lincoln (1919) II. 125 We enioyne yow, prioresse..that houres of contemplacyone dayly be had in the cloystre..and that alle your susters nyghtly lyg in the dormytory and ryse to matynes.
1442 in A. H. Thompson Visitations Relig. Houses Diocese Lincoln (1927) III. 230 We enioyne yow..that nyghtly ye hafe competent lyght in the dormytory.
1457 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 296 (MED) Ther schold be viii men ychos to wache neghtly..from corfu tym tyll v of the cloke arly.
1496 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 170 Maryners dayly and nyghtly attendyng & awayting in keping the seid Ship in the dokke.
a1525 Bk. Sevyne Sagis l. 1009 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 32 That þai suld ryng a commoun bell Nichtly befor þe cokis can crawe.
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 48 Euery of the same persons shal dayly and nightlye..do his office and duety.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. ii. 6 Some keepe backe The clamorous Owle, that nightly hootes. View more context for this quotation
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 1 Those of the Religion daily threatned, and nightly fearing a massacre.
1644 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1872) II. 18 The counsell..ordanes ane watch to be keipit be day allsweill as nichtlie.
1712 A. Pope tr. Ovid Sapho to Phaon in tr. Ovid Epist. (ed. 8) 12 Cynthia..bid Endymion nightly tend his Sheep.
1746 T. Smollett Tears Scotl. 31 The pale phantoms of the slain Glide nightly o'er the silent plain.
1796 E. Burke Two Lett. Peace Regicide Directory France in Wks. (1808) VIII. 394 The crowds that nightly flock to them.
1820 W. Scott Abbot III. viii. 245 I dread the centinel who is now planted nightly in the garden.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. vi. §66. 239 The comet..nightly waxes larger.
1895 19th Cent. Aug. 337 A curious little ceremony that takes place nightly at a theatre.
1917 E. R. Burroughs Princess of Mars xv. 164 My mother continued to keep me in the old tower, visiting me nightly, and lavishing upon me the love the community life would have robbed us both of.
1961 E. Waugh Unconditional Surrender (1964) iii. iv. 224 As the result of General Spitz's recommendations supplies came almost nightly in great profusion.
1987 A. Pryce-Jones Bonus of Laughter iv. 52 The President gated me—which meant being in college by nine nightly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb]
nightseOE
on nightOE
in (also of, on, upon) the nightOE
by nightlOE
on (also in) nightslOE
a-nightc1175
a-nightsc1175
at nightc1300
within nightc1400
a-nightertime?a1439
a nighttimes1567
at nights1581
nightly1597
benight1642
nocturnally1812
night-times1851
nitely1970
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. i. 81 Chaine me..where roaring Beares and sauage Lions are: Or shut me nightly in a Charnell-house. View more context for this quotation
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 61 The other..speakes it selfe rather a Royal Carrauan-raw, then a Temple, though nightly a thousand Lamps adorne it.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 642 They on the trading Flood..Ply stemming nightly toward the Pole. View more context for this quotation
1704 J. Swift Full Acct. Battel between Bks. in Tale of Tub 271 Two Mungrel Curs..joyn in Partnership..nightly to invade the Folds of some rich Grazier.
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. iv. 127 When morning appeared, they wondered to behold new ramparts raised, nightly erected out of the ruins which the day had made.
1815 Ld. Byron Destr. Sennacherib i, in Hebrew Melodies 46 When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.eOE
adv.1441