nightfall
/ˈnaɪt.fɔl/noun
nightfall is spelled N-I-G-H-T-F-A-L-L: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nightfall means “The close of the day; the coming of night” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nightfall is nightfalls.
How many letters and syllables are in nightfall?
| Letters | 9: N-I-G-H-T-F-A-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 25,070th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is nightfall?
Nightfall appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nightfall?
- /ˈnaɪt.fɔl/
- /ˈnaɪt.fɑl/
- /niːt.fɑːl/
Nightfall has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-nightfall.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of nightfall
- nightfalls plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nightfall mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The close of the day; the coming of night.
at nightfall
- 2
Nocturnal emission.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nightfall in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the close of the day; the coming of night:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tombée de la nuit |
| German | Einbruch der Nacht, Einbruch der Dunkelheit, Zwielicht |
| Portuguese | anoitecer, crepúsculo, lusco-fusco |
| Spanish | anochecer |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nightfall come from?
From night + fall. Cf. dewfall.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).