LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
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“night” in Latin

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

night
nox (the proper word); tenebrae (darkness; also, figuratively, of the mind). A dark night, nox obscura, nox caliginosa, nox obducta or caeca: a long, short night, nox longa, contractor: the shortest night, nox solstitialis (opposed to nox brumalis): a space of two, three nights, binoctium, trinoctium: by night, in the night, nocte; noctu; nocturno tempore: toward the approach of night, sub noctem; prima, nocte; primo vespere; nocte appetente; primis se intendentibus tenebris: in the middle of the night, media nocte: late at night, concubia nocte: still in the night, de nocte: still in the middle of the night, de media nocte: while it is yet still night, de multa nocte (all three with verbs of motion; e.g., proficisci): until late at night, ad multam noctem (☞ in serum noctis is post-classical): night is coming on, nox appetit; tenebrae oboriuntur: night is close at hand, nox ingruit or imminet: night overtakes one, nox opprimit aliquem; nox alicui supervenit: to stay up the whole night, noctem pervigilare; (for the purpose of labor or study) lucubrare: to have a good night, bene quiescere: to have a bad night, noctem insomnem agere: good night! perhaps molliter cubes! (after Ov., Her., 7, 62) or salve! salvere te jubeo! vale! valere te jubeo! (the usual salutation at meeting and parting): to wish good night to anyone, aliquem salvere or valere jubeo.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for night?
The usual Latin words for “night” are nox, tenebrae, caecus; also contractor, binoctium, trĭnoctĭum. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.