midnight

Name: midnight, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/

//ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt// noun

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“midnight” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,253 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#4,253
frequency rank, English: 8
letters: 13
tracked misspellings: 1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The middle of the night: the sixth temporal hour, equidistant between sunset and sunrise.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

midnight vs McKnight

63% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for midnight
Property	Value
Headword	midnight
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/
Letters	8
Frequency rank	#4,253
Misspellings tracked	13
Confusable pairs	1
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “midnight” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). midnight lands here:

#4,253

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for midnight is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,253 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for midnight, with forms such as "imdnight", "mdinight", and "middnight". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "McKnight", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swed… The correct English form is midnight, spelled M-I-D-N-I-G-H-T.

Definition

1
The middle of the night: the sixth temporal hour, equidistant between sunset and sunrise.
2
Twelve o'clock at night exactly.
3
Synonym of boxcars (“a pair of sixes”).

Etymology

From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”).

Synonyms

00:0012 o'clock12 midnight12 a.m.24:00dead of night midnight noon noon of night

Antonyms

midday

This word in other languages

medianoche(Español)minuit(Français)Mitternacht(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: imdnight,mdinight,middnight,midinght,midngiht,midnigght,midnighht,midnightt,midnigth,midnihgt,midnnight,mindight,mmidnight

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of midnight - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "midnight"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "midnight"?

"midnight" is spelled M-I-D-N-I-G-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/.

What does "midnight" mean?

As a noun, "midnight" means: The middle of the night: the sixth temporal hour, equidistant between sunset and sunrise.

What words are commonly confused with "midnight"?

"midnight" is commonly confused with "McKnight". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "midnight"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "midnight" is /ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "midnight"?

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “midnight”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is M-I-D-N-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˈmɪd(ˌ)naɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “McKnight” - see the side-by-side comparison. midnight vs McKnight
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.