night

Q: Is it correct to say "I will see you in night"?

No — say "I will see you at night". When referring to the time of day in a general sense, the preposition 'at' is required without an article.

n. C / U

A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈnaɪt// UK //nˈaɪt// night

General-service Informal

n. the time when it is dark outside and most people sleep. It starts when the sun goes down and ends when the sun rises.

n. the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise. Often used to denote the time spent sleeping or the duration of an evening event.

SIMPLE

The stars look beautiful at night.

CONTEXTUAL

We stayed up late into the night talking about our plans for the summer holiday.

COMPLEX

The city takes on a completely different character at night, as the harsh concrete of the business district is softened by the glow of neon signs and streetlights.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English nighte, night, nyght, niȝt, naht, from Old English niht, from Proto-West Germanic naht (“night”), from Proto-Germanic nahts (“night”), from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”). Cognates Cognate with Scots nicht (“night”), Yola neeght, nieght, nyeght (“night”), North Frisian naacht, Nacht, noach, nåcht (“night”), Saterland Frisian Noacht (“night”), West Frisian nacht (“night”), Cimbrian, Dutch nacht (“night”), German, Low German Nacht (“night”), Luxembourgish Nuecht (“night”), Mòcheno nòcht (“night”), Vilamovian naocht (“night”), Yiddish נאַכט (nakht, “night”), Danish nat (“night”), Faroese nátt (“night”), Icelandic nátt, nótt (“night”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish natt (“night”), Scanian nøtt (“night”), Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts, “night”); also Breton noz (“night”), Cornish and Welsh nos (“night”), Irish anocht (“tonight”), Manx noght (“tonight”), Scottish Gaelic a-nochd, an nochd (“tonight”), Latin nox (“night”) (whence English nox, a doublet), Greek νύχτα (nýchta, “night”), Albanian natë (“night”), Latgalian and Latvian nakts (“night”), Lithuanian naktis (“night”), Belarusian ноч (noč, “night”), Bulgarian нощ (nošt, “night”), Czech, Polish, and Slovak noc (“night”), Macedonian ноќ (noḱ, “night”), Russian ночь (nočʹ, “night”), Serbo-Croatian ноћ, noć (“night”), Slovene noč (“night”), Ukrainian ніч (nič, “night”), Tocharian A nakcu (“last night; at night”), Tocharian B nekcīye (“last night; at night”), Hittite 𒉈𒆪𒊻 (nekuz, “evening, nightfall; dawn, twilight”), Sanskrit नक्त् (nákt).

Usage

Often used with the preposition 'at' ('at night') to describe the general time, or 'in the' ('in the night') for a specific moment during that period.

Pitfall

I will see you in nightI will see you at nightWhen referring to the time of day in a general sense, the preposition 'at' is required without an article.

Idioms13 entries