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.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈnɒktɜːn/
Received-Pronunciation:/(ˌ)nɒkˈtɜːn/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:nŏkʹtûrn'
General-American:nŏkʹtərn
General-American:/ˈnɑkˌtɝn/
General-American:/ˈnɑktɚn/
rhymes with -ɒktɜː(ɹ)n
rhymes with -ɒktə(ɹ)n
rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)n
1
noun
Meaning 1
A work in a genre of piano music of moderate tempo with a highly-decorated, improvisatory melody.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A work of art relating or dedicated to the night.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a pensive lyrical piece of music (especially for the piano)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: notturno
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: musical composition, opus, composition, piece, piece of music
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French nocturne (literally “nocturnal”), from Latin nocturnus. Doublet of notturno.
Across languages
Translations
28 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
ноктюрно
(noktjurno)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Carpathian Rusyn:
нокту́рно
(noktúrno)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Catalan:
nocturn
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Chinese Mandarin:
夜曲
(yèqǔ)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Finnish:
nokturno
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
French:
nocturne
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Galician:
nocturno
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
German:
Nachtstück
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
German:
Nocturne
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
German:
Nokturne
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Greek:
νυχτωδία
(nychtodía)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Ido:
nokturno
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Italian:
notturno
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Japanese:
夜想曲
(yasōkyoku)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Japanese:
ノクターン
(nokutān)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Kazakh:
ноктюрн
(noktürn)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Korean:
녹턴
(nokteon)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Korean:
야상곡
(yasanggok)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Kyrgyz:
ноктюрн
(noktyurn)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Māori:
whakatangipō
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Norwegian Bokmål:
nocturne
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Polish:
nokturn
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Portuguese:
noturno
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Russian:
ноктю́рн
(noktjúrn)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Serbo-Croatian:
ноктурно
(nokturno)
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Spanish:
nocturno
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Swedish:
nocturne
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
Turkish:
noktürn
— a dreamlike or pensive composition
