The middle of the night; twelve o'clock at night; the point equidistant between sunset and sunrise.
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Old Englishbefore 900 CEwell-attested
From OldEnglish midniht, a transparent compound of mid (middle) and niht (night), meaning the middle of the night. The element mid derives from Proto-Germanic *midjaz, from PIE *médʰyos (middle, situated at the centre), also producing Latin medius (middle — whence medium, mediate, medieval), Greek mésos (middle — whence mesolithic, Mesopotamia), and Sanskrit madhya (middle). The element niht derives from Proto-Germanic *nahtiz, from PIE *nókʷts (night), one
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Before mechanical clocks, midnight wasnot a fixed point at 12:00 but literally the middle of the night — the moment equidistant between sunset and sunrise, which shifted with the seasons.
, appearing in Latin nox (night — whence nocturnal, equinox), Greek nyx (night — whence nyctalopia), Sanskrit nakt (night), and Welsh nos (night). Midnight has been in