nightfall
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of nightfall
Explanation
Nightfall is the part of a day when the sun goes down and evening begins. In suburban neighborhoods, parents often call their kids to come home for dinner at nightfall. It gets dark at nightfall, marking the end of the day. You can also all this time dusk or twilight. If your dad warns you to be home from your bike ride by nightfall, he wants you home before sunset. Nightfall has a bit of an old fashioned, poetic sound, and it dates from the early eighteenth century, a combination of night, from the Old English niht, or "darkness," and fall, or "come suddenly."
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.
Other property owners working with the Nightfall Group also leased their long-term rentals as short-term rentals for use as party houses, Soto said.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2025
They call the stone Nightfall, and say is documented in poems, songs and dances that stretch back five generations.
From BBC • Nov. 29, 2022
Not just any mermaid, but “a real authentic mermaid with a splash tail,” says Angelica Bridges, spokesperson for the Nightfall Group.
From Washington Post • Oct. 30, 2022
Nightfall will bring little relief, with temperatures remaining in the upper 70s and low 80s.
From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2022
Nightfall would be on them soon, and the red god must be fed.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
