nocturne
Americannoun
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a piece appropriate to the night or evening.
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an instrumental composition of a dreamy or pensive character.
noun
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a short, lyrical piece of music, esp one for the piano
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a painting or tone poem of a night scene
Etymology
Origin of nocturne
From the French word nocturne, dating back to 1860–65. See nocturn
Explanation
A nocturne is a piece of dreamy piano music. A particularly lovely, well-played nocturne might bring tears to your eyes. Sniff, sniff. Nocturnes are traditionally inspired by or suggesting nighttime, with the resulting composition being romantic and a bit melancholy. The earliest nocturnes were written and performed (usually in the evening) in the eighteenth century. Chopin is probably the most well known composer of nocturnes, having written twenty-one of them. The word nocturne comes from the Latin nocturnus, "belonging to the night."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In transforming the nocturne into “an evocation of the restful character of evening,” Field endowed it with an intimate tone that appealed to Romantic sensibilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Jacobs’s textures were also beautifully varied in the “Prière,” the trumpet mellowed by the vast space without losing its focus; the “Prélude, Fugue et Variation” was a wistful nocturne, sensitively controlled and never overblown.
From New York Times ● Jun. 8, 2022
For various reasons, I was expected to deliver a longish address at my high-school graduation, and after composing it—the easy part—I turned to a speech therapist and rehearsed as if it were a Chopin nocturne.
From Slate ● Dec. 6, 2017
“And then something will surface. I just wrote my first real classical piece, a nocturne for piano and orchestra. I hope I get it played here sometime.”
From The New Yorker ● May 1, 2017
She got my bathrobe for me, and then she dried my hair with those powerful fingers of hers as gently as she might coax a nocturne from our old piano.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
