Midnight Meaning
/ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe middle of the night: the sixth temporal hour, equidistant between sunset and sunrise.
nounTwelve o'clock at night exactly.
Sentence Examples
During summer breaks, I ate dinner at midnight.
The fire broke out toward midnight.
She heard the clock strike midnight.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The celebration lasted until ____, the middle of the night when the clock struck twelve.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The New Year's Eve party reached its loudest point at ____ when everyone cheered and celebrated the beginning of the new year.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And he [Jesus] ſayde vnto thẽ [them]: which of you ſhall have a frende and ſhall goo to hym att mydnyght⸝ and ſaye vnto hym: frende lende me foure loves for a frende of myne is come out off the waye to me⸝ and I have nothynge to ſett before hĩ [him]⸝ And he within ſhall andſwer and ſaye: Trouble me nott⸝ nowe is the doore ſhett⸝ and my ſervaunttꝭ [servaunttis, i.e., servants] are with me in the chamber⸝ I cannot ryſe and geve thẽ to the [them to thee]. I ſaye vnto you: though he woll not aryſe and geve hym⸝ becauſe he is his frende: Yet becauſe of hys importunitie he woll ryſe and geve him as many as he nedeth."
— 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Luke xj:[5–8], folio xciiij, recto:
"And vpon the first day of the weeke, when the disciples came together to breake bread, Paul preached vnto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speach vntill midnight."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 20:7:
"She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good! / She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! / They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years, / Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, / Cold, on the stroke of midnight, / The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!"
— 1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza IV, pages 50–51:
"The police report said that officers, who told CNN they are not currently pursuing criminal charges, arrived to the scene just after midnight and found Gillum and a second person, Aldo Mejias, in the hotel room."
— 2020 March 13, Oliver Darcy, “Andrew Gillum apologizes after being found ‘inebriated’ in hotel room where police say man was treated for ‘possible drug overdose’”, in CNN Business:
"Free and falling, his midnight hair flowed out all around us like a silk canopy."
— 2013, Sharon Ricklin, Ravenswynd Legends, page 143:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The celebration lasted until ____, the middle of the night when the clock struck twelve.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The New Year's Eve party reached its loudest point at ____ when everyone cheered and celebrated the beginning of the new year.