Standard Lemma guide

nightfall

noun · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈnaɪt.fɔl/
  • cot-caught-merger: /ˈnaɪt.fɑl/
  • Northumbria: /niːt.fɑːl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: N AY1 T F AO2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The close of the day; the coming of night.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • at nightfall

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dusk, evening, sundown, sunset, cockshut, crepusculum, dark, dimmity, duckish, evenfall, mirkning, night, nightfall, sun, vespers

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Nocturnal emission.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the time of day immediately following sunset

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he loved the twilight
  • they finished before the fall of night

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: twilight, dusk, gloaming, gloam, evenfall, fall, crepuscule, crepuscle

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hour, time of day

Narrower terms: night

History

Etymology

From night + fall. Cf. dewfall.

Across languages

Translations

86 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Ahtna: xeł — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Arabic: هُبُوط (hubūṭ) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Arabic: غَسَق (ḡasaq) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Arabic: لَيْل (layl) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Arabic: عِشَاء (ʕišāʔ) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Arabic: غُرُوب (ḡurūb) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Central Bikol: sinarom — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Bulgarian: свечеряване (svečerjavane) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Bulgarian: смрачаване (smračavane) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Catalan: capvespre — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黃昏 /黄昏 (huánghūn) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Chinese Mandarin: 薄暮 (bómù) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Czech: soumrak — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Danish: skumring — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Danish: mørkets frembrud — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Dutch: avondschemering — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Dutch: avondval — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Dutch: nachtval — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Dutch: valavond — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Estonian: videvik — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Finnish: iltahämärä — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Finnish: illansuu — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Finnish: illan siimes — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • French: tombée de la nuit — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Galician: anoitecer — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Galician: luscofusco — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Galician: crepúsculo — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • German: Einbruch der Nacht — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • German: Einbruch der Dunkelheit — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • German: Zwielicht — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Greek: σούρουπο (soúroupo) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Greek: νύχτωμα (nýchtoma) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Hindi: साँझ (sāñjh) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Hungarian: alkony — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Hungarian: alkonyat — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Hungarian: sötétedés — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Icelandic: rökkurbil — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Icelandic: ljósaskipti — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Icelandic: næturkoma — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Icelandic: nótt — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Indonesian: senjakala — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Ingrian: iltain — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Italian: crepuscolo — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Japanese: 日暮 (higure) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Karachay-Balkar: ашхам (aşxam) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Korean: 해질녘 (haejillyeok) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Korean: 황혼 (hwanghon) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Latin: annoctatio — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Latvian: krēsla — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Latvian: tumsas iestāšanās — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Lithuanian: sutema — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Lithuanian: prieblanda — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Manx: beeal ny hoie — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Māori: pōnga — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Norwegian: mørkets frambrudd — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Norwegian: skumring — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Old Norse: dagsetr — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Persian: شبانگاه — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Polish: zmrok — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Polish: zmierzch — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Portuguese: anoitecer — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Portuguese: crepúsculo — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Portuguese: lusco-fusco — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Romagnol: imbrunìr — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Romanian: căderea serii — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Romanian: înserare — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Romanian: amurg — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Romanian: venirea nopții — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Romanian: căderea nopții — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Romanian: înnoptare — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Russian: наступле́ние но́чи (nastuplénije nóči) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Russian: су́мерки (súmerki) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Sindhi: ِسَنجھا (sanjhā) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Slovak: súmrak — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Slovene: mrak — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Spanish: anochecer — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Swedish: kvällning — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Swedish: nattens inbrott (mörkrets) — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Tagalog: takipsilim — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Turkish: akşam karanlığı — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Turkish: akşam vakti — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Vietnamese: chạng vạng — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Walloon: anuti — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Welsh: cyfnos — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Welsh: hwyr — the close of the day; the coming of night
  • Welsh: hwyrnos — the close of the day; the coming of night
Real reading context

nightfall in complete knowledge articles