Standard Lemma guide

Kristallnacht

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: K R IH1 S T AH0 L N AA2 K T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The night of November 9–10, 1938, when a state-organized night of terror was staged against Jews in Germany and Austria.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Nazism, historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Night of Broken Glass

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Kristallnacht (“night of broken glass”, literally “crystal night”).

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: nit dels vidres trencats — Translations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 水晶之夜 (Shuǐjīng zhī Yè) — Translations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 碎玻璃之夜 (Suìbōlí zhī Yè) — Translations
  • French: Nuit de Cristal — Translations
  • German: Kristallnacht — Translations
  • German: Reichskristallnacht — Translations
  • German: Reichspogromnacht — Translations
  • Hindi: क्रिस्टालनाख़्ट (krisṭālnāxṭ) — Translations
  • Japanese: 水晶の夜 (Suishō no Yoru) — Translations
  • Marathi: क्रिस्टालनाख्ट (krisṭālnākhṭa) — Translations
  • Polish: noc kryształowa — Translations
  • Portuguese: Noite dos Cristais — Translations
  • Russian: Ночь разбитых витрин (Nočʹ razbityx vitrin) — Translations
  • Spanish: noche de los cristales rotos — Translations
  • Spanish: Kristallnacht — Translations