English Reference
adjective · adverb · noun

nightly

adj. · adv. · n.
US /ˈnaɪtɫi/ UK /nˈaɪtli/ night·ly

  1. 01 B1 Intermediate

    adj.happening or appearing every single night.

    adj.occurring, performed, or appearing every night. This sense is non-gradable.

    Simple

    The hotel offers nightly entertainment for all its guests in the lounge.

    In context

    The nightly news broadcast remains a cornerstone of public information, despite the increasing shift toward digital-first media consumption.

    every nightdiurnal
  2. 02 B2 Upper Intermediate

    adj.happening during the night time rather than the day.

    adj.relating to or occurring in the night; nocturnal in nature.

    Simple

    The nightly chill in the desert can be quite dangerous for travelers.

    In context

    The nightly silence of the countryside was a stark contrast to the constant roar of the city he had left behind.

    nocturnalnight time
  3. 03 B1 Intermediate

    adv.happening once every night.

    adv.on every night; once per night.

    Simple

    She writes in her journal nightly before going to sleep.

    In context

    The security team patrols the perimeter nightly to ensure the facility remains secure during non-operational hours.

    each night
  4. 04 C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    n.a version of a computer program that is updated and released every night.

    n.a software build incorporating the latest code changes, typically compiled and released automatically every night for testing purposes.

    Simple

    The developers checked the latest nightly to see if the bug was fixed.

    In context

    Running the nightly build allows the quality assurance team to identify regressions immediately after new code is merged into the main branch.


Etymology 1

From Middle English nyȝtly, nihtlich, nihtlic, from Old English nihtlīċ, nihtelīċ (“nocturnal, nightly, of the night, at night”), equivalent to night + -ly. Cognate with Scots nichtlie (“nightly”), West Frisian nachtlik (“nightly, nocturnal”), Dutch nachtelijk (“nightly, nocturnal”), German nächtlich (“nocturnal, nightly”), Danish natlig (“nightly”), Swedish nattlig (“nightly, nocturnal”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English nyghtly, neghtly, from Old English *nihtlīċe (“nightly”), equivalent to night + -ly.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Old English nihtlīċ
Level B1 · Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated