Etymograph

English

tonight

Tonight comes from Middle English tonyght ‘on the currently occurring night’, and goes back to Old English tō niht.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150tō niht1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tonyght1‘on the currently occurring night’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1596tonight1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tonight
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John: “Besides, I met Lord Bigot and Lord Salisbury, With…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150tō nihtWiktionary, English tonight
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tonyghtWiktionary, English tonight‘on the currently occurring night’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1596tonightWiktionary, English tonight. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John: “Besides, I met Lord Bigot and Lord Salisbury, With…”

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Today it means

adv During the night following the current day; during the evening of today.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tonight”. 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 / Old English tō niht / tonight