Etymograph

English

nightly

Nightly comes from Old English nihtlīċ ‘nightly, of the night, nocturnal’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nókʷts1‘night’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nahts1‘night’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nahti1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150niht2‘night’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nihtlīċ3‘nightly, of the night, nocturnal’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nyȝtly3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1871nightly3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English niht
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English nihtlic
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English nightly
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1871, John Tyndall, Fragments of Science: A Series of Detached Essays: “A cobweb spread above a blossom Is sufficient to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nókʷtsWiktionary, Old English niht‘night’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nahtsWiktionary, Old English niht‘night’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nahtiWiktionary, Old English nihtreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150nihtWiktionary, Old English nihtlic‘night’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nihtlīċWiktionary, English nightly‘nightly, of the night, nocturnal’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nyȝtlyWiktionary, English nightly
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1871nightlyWiktionary, English nightly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1871, John Tyndall, Fragments of Science: A Series of Detached Essays: “A cobweb spread above a blossom Is sufficient to…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts ‘night’

noir, nocturnal, nigger, nox, nocturne, negroni, nigella, 28 more

Another origin of nightly

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*nihtlīċereconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nyghtly‘at night’
  3. Englishtodaynightly

Today it means

adj Happening or appearing in the night; night-time; nocturnal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nightly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English niht, Old English nihtlic. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts / nightly

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