# overnight

> English word · Adverb · IPA /əʊvə(ɹ)ˈnaɪt/ · frequency rank #5,241

## Definitions
1. During or throughout the night, especially during the evening or night just past.
2. In a very short (but unspecified) amount of time.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English overnyght, from Old English ofer niht (“through the night, overnight”), equivalent to over + night. Verbal use (late 19th c.) may have been influenced by German übernachten (16th c.), though it could also have developed independently. Compare also Dutch overnachten (“to overnight”), Middle Low German ȫvernachten (“to overnight”), West Frisian oernachtsje (“to overnight”), Saterland Frisian uurnoachtje (“to overnight”).

## Easily confused with
- **oversight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/overnight-vs-oversight)
- **overweight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/overnight-vs-overweight)

## Common misspellings (14)
`oevrnight`, `ovenright`, `overinght`, `overngiht`, `overnigght`, `overnighht`, `overnightt`, `overnigth`, `overnihgt`, `overnnight`, `overrnight`, `ovrenight`, `ovvernight`, `voernight`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/overnight