Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Nightfall |
NightfallNoun1. The time of day immediately following sunset; "he loved the twilight"; "they finished before the fall of night". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "nightfall" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Nightfall is an influential science fiction short story by the late Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the September 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine under editor John W. Campbell. According to Asimov's autobiography, Campbell ordered Asimov to write the story after discussing with him a quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
The story is set on a fictional planet, Lagash, located in a stellar system containing six stars. The "nightfall" of the title occurs only once every two thousand and fifty years when the sole sun remaining above the horizon is occulted by a planetary body not directly observable to the planet's inhabitants. The impending approach of nightfall has the populace in a panic, fearing the end of their civilization.
- If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!
Considered a classic of the genre, "Nightfall" has been anthologized no fewer than two dozen times, and has appeared in at least another half-dozen collections of Asimov's older stories.
In 1988, a low-budget movie was produced based upon the story. However, its script, while retaining the story's basic premise, deviated wildly from the original plot, and the film was roundly dismissed by critics and ridiculed by science fiction fans. Asimov himself disowned it.
In 1990, two years before Asimov's death, he collaborated with author Robert Silverberg on a novel-length revision of the original story. In fifty years, much about the original — despite its classic status — had become dated both scientifically and in terms of literary style. The novel significantly expands upon and updates the original premise. It was a commercial success but received mixed reviews.
Nightfall is also the name of a female elf character in Wendy and Richard Pini's comic book series, Elfquest. It is tempting to think that the character may have been named after the Isaac Asimov story, but the Pinis have never confirmed this.
Nightfall Games, creators of SLA Industries were not named after the Asimov story.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Nightfall."
Synonyms: NightfallSynonyms: dusk (n), evenfall (n), fall (n), gloaming (n), twilight (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Evening | Noun: evening, eve; decline of day, fall of day, close of day; candlelight, candlelighting; eventide, nightfall, curfew, dusk, twilight, eleventh hour; sunset, sundown; going down of the sun,Noun: evening, eve; decline of day, fall of day, close of day; candlelight, candlelighting; eventide, nightfall, curfew, dusk, twilight, eleventh hour; sunset, sundown; going down of the sun, cock- shut, dewy eve, gloaming, bedtime. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Nightfall |
| English words defined with "nightfall": Cockshut time ♦ Eve, evening, eventide ♦ night. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "nightfall": Lilinau. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum (To Kill a Mockingbird; writing credit: Harper Lee; Horton Foote) | |
Lyrics | Into the nightfall eclipse (Your Shadow, My Shelter; performing artist: Surface) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Nightfall (1957) D7Peacemaker: Nightfall (2003) Come Nightfall (2003) Nightfall (2002) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Seattle at nightfall, from top of Space Needle. Credit: CDC. |  | Nightfall over the Bay of Biscay. Credit: Fisheries. |
 | Nightfall at the Mill Creek Falls on the Upper Rogue River. Credit: Terry Tuttle. |  | North Spit at nightfall with sunset. Credit: J. Brende. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Nightfall on Lake Garda" by Liam Heffernan Commentary: "Nightfall on Lake Garda." | "2 Deer" by Stephen Mishler Commentary: "2 deer walking by before nightfall." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Cricket; crickets; droning; drone; dusk; nightfall; cicada; cicadae; chirping; chirp. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
William O. Douglas | As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. It is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become victims of the darkness. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | On the morrow, at nightfall, he went thither, again |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | After early nightfall the yellow lamps would light up, here and there, the squalid quarter of the brothels |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Human Rights | Jamaica | In response, Grant's Pen community residents set up roadblocks in protest, but police cleared them by nightfall. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Nightfall" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Nightfall" is used about 168 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 168 | 24,050 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "nightfall": at nightfall ♦ before nightfall. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
nightfall rpg sla | 70 |
nightfall | 42 |
chattanooga nightfall | 12 |
nightfall river | 6 |
kenshin nightfall | 5 |
arctic nightfall | 5 |
des moines nightfall river | 5 |
2003 chattanooga nightfall | 3 |
concert nightfall series | 3 |
nightfall asimov | 3 |
de nightfall | 3 |
moon nightfall sailor | 3 |
nightfall record | 3 |
band nightfall | 2 |
nightfall otr | 2 |
berserk nightfall | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "nightfall"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | muzg (afterglow, dark, dusk, duskiness, gloaming, owl-light, shadow, sunset, twilight), mugëtirë (dusk, duskiness, half-light, twilight). (various references) | |
Arabic | هبوط الليل, حلول الظلام, غسق (twilight), الغروب (night, sundown, sunset). (various references) | |
Basque | ilunabar (sunset). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | сумрак (dusk, gloaming, twilight), свечеряване, вечер (eve, even, evening, evenings, eventide, night, vesper). (various references) | |
Chinese | 黃昏 (dusk, evening), 入黑. (various references) | |
Czech | stmívání, soumrak (cockshut, dusk, gloaming, night, night-fall, twilight). (various references) | |
Farsi | شبانگاه , شب هنگام (Night). (various references) | |
Finnish | pimeän tullen (at nightfall, with the fall of darkness). (various references) | |
French | tombée du jour, tombée de la nuit. (various references) | |
German | Nachteinbruch. (various references) | |
Greek | σούρουπο (dusk, gloaming), σουρούπωμα (dusk). (various references) | |
Hebrew | עריבה (dusk, sunset), רדת החשכה. (various references) | |
Hungarian | szürkület (dusk, gloaming, Gray, grey, owl-light, shades of evening, twilight), alkony (dusk, sunset, twilight). (various references) | |
Indonesian | senja kala (twilight). (various references) | |
Italian | imbrunire (darken), crepuscolo (crepuscle, dusk, gloaming, twilight). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 薄暮 (dusk, twilight). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | くれ (end, sunset, year end), にっせき (day and night), よいのくち (early evening), はくぼ (aunt, dusk, twilight). (various references) | |
Korean | 해거름. (various references) | |
Manx | keim ny hoie, keeiraght (blackishness, twilight), keeiraghey ny hoie, keeiragh (darkish, dusk, dusky, evening twilight, gloaming, twilight), beeal ny hoie (evening just before dark). (various references) | |
Occitan | calabrun (sunset). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ightfallnay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | o escurecer, o cair de noite, anoitecer (candle-light, dusk, even, eventide, grow dark). (various references) | |
Romanian | cãderea serii, cãderea nopţii, amurg (afterglow, candlelight, crepuscule, decline, dusk, gloaming, sunset, twilight), înserare (dusk, duskiness, twilight). (various references) | |
Russian | сумерки (blind man's holiday, dusk, gloaming, owl-light, twilight, twilights). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | veče (evening, eventide), sumrak (candlelight, dusk, owl-light, twilight), smrkavanje (dusk, onfall). (various references) | |
Spanish | anochecer (darkening, darkle, dusk, evening, gloaming, grow dark, sundown). (various references) | |
Swedish | nattens inbrott. (various references) | |
Thai | ช่วงเวลาก่อนมืดมิด. (various references) | |
Turkish | akşam vakti, akşam üzeri (eventide). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сутінки (gloaming, owl-light, shadows), вечір (evening, eventide, night), настання ночі, присмерк (dusk, duskiness, shades, twilight). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | lúc sẩm tối, lúc hoàng hôn (blind man's holiday, cockshut, twilight), lúc chập tối. (various references) | |
Welsh | dechreunos (dusk). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Matthew Chapter 16, Verse 2 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | O de apokriqeiV eipen autoiV oyiaV genomenhV legete eudia purrazei gar o ouranoV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | At ille respondens ait eis facto vespere dicitis serenum erit rubicundum est enim caelum |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Ða andswerede he heom & cwæð. Onæfen ge cweðeð to-morgen hit beoð smoltweder. þis heofene is read. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And he answeride, and seide to hem, Whanne the euentid is comun, ye seien, It schal be clere, for heuene is rodi; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | He answered and sayde vnto the. At even ye saye we shall have fayre wedder and yt because ye skye is reed: |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | He answered and said to them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | But in answer he said to them, At nightfall you say, The weather will be good, for the sky is red. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Matthew Chapter 16, Verse 2 |
| Cebuano | Ug kanila mitubag siya nga nag-ingon, "Inigkasawomsom kamo magaingon, `Molinaw ugma kay pula ang langit.` |
| Chinese | 耶 穌 回 答 說 、 晚 上 天 發 紅 、 你 們 就 說 、 天 必 要 晴 。 |
| Croatian | On im odgovori: "Uveèer govorite: 'Bit æe vedro, nebo se žari.' |
| Danish | Men han svarede og sagde til dem: "Om Aftenen sige I: Det bliver en skøn Dag, thi Himmelen er rød; |
| Dutch | Maar Hij antwoordde, en zeide tot hen: Als het avond geworden is, zegt gij: Schoon weder; want de hemel is rood; |
| Finnish | Mutta hän vastasi ja sanoi heille: "Kun ilta tulee, sanotte te: `Tulee selkeä ilma, sillä taivas ruskottaa`, |
| French | Jésus leur répondit: Le soir, vous dites: Il fera beau, car le ciel est rouge; et le matin: |
| German | Aber er antwortete und sprach: Des Abends sprecht ihr: Es wird ein schöner Tag werden, denn der Himmel ist rot; |
| Hungarian | Õ pedig felelvén, monda nékik: Mikor estveledik, azt mondjátok: Szép idõ lesz; mert veres az ég. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Tetapi jawab-Nya serta berkata kepada mereka itu, "Apabila petang hari kamu berkata: Cuaca baik, karena merah langit. |
| Italian | Ma egli rispose: «Quando si fa sera, voi dite: Bel tempo, perché il cielo rosseggia; |
| Manx Gaelic | Dreggyr eshyn, as dooyrt eh roo, Tra ta'n fastyr er, jir shiuish, Bee emshyr aalin ayn: son dy vel jirgid 'syn aer. |
| Maori | Na ka whakahoki ia, ka mea ki a ratou, Ka ahiahi, ka mea koutou, He paki; ina he whero te rangi. |
| Norwegian | Men han svarte og sa til dem: Når det er blitt aften, sier I: Det blir godt vær, for himmelen er rød; |
| Portuguese | Mas ele respondeu, e disse-lhes: Ao cair da tarde, dizeis: Haverá bom tempo, porque o céu está rubro. |
| Rumanian | Drept rqspuns, Isus le -a zis: ,,Cknd se knsereazq, voi ziceyi: ,Are sq fie vreme frumoasq, cqci cerul este row.` |
| Russian | пО ЦЕ УЛБЪБМ ЙН Ч ПФЧЕФ: ЧЕЮЕТПН ЧЩ ЗПЧПТЙФЕ: ВХДЕФ ЧЈДТП, РПФПНХ ЮФП ОЕВП ЛТБУОП; |
| Shuar | Tutai Jesus Tímiayi "Atumka "Kapaaku péetar Kíntiamkui kashin esatrurtatui" Tíniuitrume. |
| Swahili | Lakini Yesu akawajibu, "Wakati wa jioni ukifika ninyi husema: `Hali ya hewa itakuwa nzuri kwa maana anga ni jekundu!` |
| Swedish | Men han svarade och sade till dem: "Om aftonen sägen I: 'Det bliver klart väder, ty himmelen är röd', |
| Uma | Yesus mpo'uli' -raka: "Ane neo' limpa-mi eo pai' mperelei langi', ni'uli': `Morawa mpai' raoa.' |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "nightfall": nightfalls. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "nightfall" (pronounced nī"tfô'l) |
| 4 | -t f ô' l | footfall, pitfall, pratfall, shortfall. |
| 3 | -f ô' l | downfall, landfall, rainfall, waterfall, windfall. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-f-g-h-i-l-l-n-t" | |
-1 letter: fanlight, flatling. | |
-2 letters: anthill, falling, fatling, hafting, halting, lathing. | |
-3 letters: alight, fating, flight, haling, hating, infall, thalli. | |
-4 letters: algin, align, fagin, faint, faith, fight, filth, final, flail, fling, flint, giant, glial, glint, laigh, laith, lathi, liang, ligan, light, linga, night, thill, thing. | |
-5 letters: agin, alif, alit, anil, anti, fail, fain, fall, fang, fiat, fila, fill. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-f-g-h-i-l-l-n-t" | |
+1 letter: nightfalls. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Familiar 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Expressions 15. Expressions: Internet 16. Translations: Modern | 17. Bible Trace 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
