tonightadv.n.
/təˈnʌɪt/, /tʊˈnʌɪt/, U.S. /təˈnaɪt/ A. adv.† 3. On the night just past; last night. (Perhaps only said in the morning.) Obsolete exc. dialect.
1.
a. On this very night (i.e. the night now present).
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11246 I bring yow word wit ioi and blis, Born to night your sauueour es!
1670 J. Narborough Jrnl. in Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) i. 83 Much Wind to Night at Northwest.
1797 Ld. Nelson in Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. p. cxlv Half past 3 a.m. I was merely a spectator to~night.
1832 Ld. Tennyson New Year's Eve ii, in Poems (new ed.) 95 Tonight I saw the sun set.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Audley Court in Poems (new ed.) II. 45 I go to-night: I come to-morrow morn.
b. On any night (as contrasted with the next day). Cf. today adv., n., and adj. Phrases.
ΚΠ
1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes (1568) i. xxviii. 41 For many are layde to nighte into their graue, which the next day following [are] thought to be aliue.
1568 W. Dunbar in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 259 And wt thy nytbouris glaidly len and borow His chance to nyt[a1513 this nicht] it may be thyne to morow.
2. On the night following this day.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb] > tonight
tonightc1000
c1000 Ælfric Numbers xxii. 19 Ac beoþ her toniht, and abidaþ andsware.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 104 Ðu stunta, nu toniht [Luke xii. 20 on þisse nihte] ðu scealt ðin lif alætan.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 356 Anacletus leofe freond to-niht [c1300 Otho to-niþt] þu scalt faren.
c1275 Passion of Our Lord 104 in Old Eng. Misc. 40 He me schal bitraye to nyht er he slepe.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xii. l. 495 I sall cum out..to-morn, Or ellys to-nycht.
1539 Bible (Great) Ruth iii. 2 Beholde, he wenoweth barleye to nyght in the thresshyng floure.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. i. 184 Last night she slept not, nor to night she shall not. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. v. 57 Duncan comes here to Night . View more context for this quotation
1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd iii. 237 Tonight shall be the weaving, and tomorn the web shall ye win.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > yesterday > [adverb] > yesterday afternoon or last night
yesternightOE
yestern eveOE
tonightc1275
yester-evenc1330
yesterday evening1490
yestreena1500
this hinder nighta1549
yester-eve1565
yester-even1578
yester-evening1598
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13980 Þa axede hine an uæir cniht Lauerd hu hauest þu iuaren to-niht.
c1290 Beket 1542 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 150 To-niȝt ase ich was a-slepe a wonder metinge me com.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 73 No mannes myht Mai do that he hath do to nyht.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 50 I dreamt a dreame tonight . View more context for this quotation
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist i. ii. sig. Cv Sub... The Queene of Faerie do's not rise, Till it be noone. Fac. Not, if she daunc'd, to night . View more context for this quotation
1652 R. Brome Joviall Crew iii. sig. G2 Ease call'st thou it? Didst thou sleep to night?
1798 J. Jefferson Let. to J. Boucher 23 Feb. (MS.) [Hampshire expressions] To-night for last night, or yesternight.
B. n.
This night, or the night after this day.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > tonight
tonighta1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3543 Þou sal neuer forth fra to night In þi forbirth do claim na right.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 127 Sweet Sir Toby be patient for to night . View more context for this quotation
1709 M. Prior Thief & Cordelier ix He that's hang'd before noon, ought to think of to-night.
1799 W. Wordsworth Lucy Gray iv To-night will be a stormy night—You to the town must go.
1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 212 To~night is cloudy and dull.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.n.c1000