Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Tonight |
TonightAdverb1. During the night of the present day; "drop by tonight". Noun1. The present or immediately coming night. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "tonight" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
Synonyms: TonightSynonyms: this evening (adv), this night (adv). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Sociality | Phrase: " a crowd is not company "; " be bright and jovial among your guests tonight "; " his worth is warrant for his welcome "; " let's be red with mirth "; " welcome the coming speed the parting guest ". |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Tonight |
| English words defined with "tonight": baby-sit ♦ feature, feature film ♦ if not, indescribably, ineffably ♦ sit ♦ unspeakably, unutterably. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "tonight": quick-and-dirty. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Tonight, hell freezes over (Batman & Robin; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman) That's right, we don't have to pretend anymore, we leave, we leave tonight (Moulin Rouge!; writing credit: Baz Luhrmann; Craig Pearce) Forgive me father, for I may sin tonight. (Almost Famous; writing credit: Cameron Crowe) Margaret, about the séance tonight, I wish you'd come (The Addams Family; writing credit: Caroline Thompson) If I can guess your name in three tries, you have to come have a drink with me tonight. (Being John Malkovich; writing credit: Charlie Kaufman) | |
Lyrics | Makes 3 tonight. (You Me and The Bottle Makes Three Tonight; performing artist: Big Daddy) And I say yes, you look wonderful tonight (Wonderful Tonight; performing artist: ERIC CLAPTON) I need you tonight cause I'm not sleeping (Need You Tonight; performing artist: INXS) Waiting for tonight, oh (Waiting For Tonight; performing artist: Jennifer Lopez) Tonight and the rest of my life (Tonight and the Rest of My Life; performing artist: Nina Gordon) | |
Clever | Fools look to tomorrow, wise men use tonight. (references; author: unknown) At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Nirvana Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! (1994) Darling Not Tonight (1972) Comedy Tonight (1970) Tonight with David Nixon (1969) John Laws Tonight Show (1968) | |
Song Titles | There's A Moon Out Tonight (performing artist: The Capris) Tonight She Comes (performing artist: The Cars) Heartache Tonight (performing artist: The Eagles) The Way You Look Tonight (performing artist: The Lettermen) Let Me Love You Tonight (performing artist: The Pure Praire League) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Clam chowder for dinner tonight!. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals). |  | I have come here to warn you : you must go -- escape -- tonight. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Finish tonight. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | The body of martyr Amam is also supposed to be arrived [sic] tonight by the airplane / Ardeshir Mohassess. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | What every husband knows. Let's read the news aloud tonight dear -- it's so much more ... Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Women at war (Mrs. Smuda). There's a war to be won, but there's work to be done at home, and this modern warrior-mother enjoys taking a hand in household duties. Tonight, she's drying the supper dishes while her daughter Genevieve washes. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Waiting in line for tickets for the opening game of the World Series. Picture snapped at 10 P.M. tonight October 3rd, twenty four hours before the tickets will be placed on sale. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Luke Whoozis. "He's late tonight, I hope nothing has happened to him, here he comes now!". Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Margy. "Am I blue? I've invited Margy to the Bita Pi dinner tonight". Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Kiss a toad tonight. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Fireplace" by Jason Krieger Commentary: "A shot of fire goin in my fireplace tonight." | ""Poor Rat" 1" by Tina Lorien Commentary: "Tonight hanging my laundry - I got involved in a drama - as my cat was after this rat baby - now I am a hysteric afraid of rat - person . - but I grabbed my camera - & got as close as I dared - (which wasnt very close)....... In the end I almost felt sor" |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Alfred Jarry | You're looking exceptionally ugly tonight, Madam, is it because we have company? |
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. |
Gabriel Heatter | There is good news tonight. |
Henny Youngman | If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | I was gonna sleep here tonight. |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | And now tonight my flute has waked the echoes over that very water |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Andy Rooney | Let me begin tonight by saying, as nice and sweet as I know how, that I thought last Tuesday's debate between Al Gore and George Bush stank. It was about as exciting as synchronized swimming at the Olympics. |
Dan Rather | In Jerusalem tonight, right at the dividing line between the Israeli west and the mostly Arab east Jerusalem, yet another suicide bombing. We had driven by only minutes before the bomb went off. |
Fran Drescher | I do sit down, basically, that's what I always say. You see me on the Tonight Show or Letterman, Conan, you know, I tell my jokes that way. Tell my funny stories that way. |
John Warner | The president tonight did not foreclose the options that France, Germany and Canada and great Britain are putting towards the Security Council. He simply said in a very straight-forward way, let's wait and see. |
Robin Cook | Well, there's quite a big rebellion among the labor ranks. People said the last vote we had in this was the biggest government rebellion since the days of Gladstone over a century ago. And it was even bigger tonight. |
Sylvia Browne | You can mentally do that. You can say tonight when I go to bed, may the white light of the holy spirit surround me, and may I want her out of my dream, because I want her to quit riding me all the time. |
Ted Koppel | Tonight, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker join us to tell their side of the story in their first live television interview since leaving the PTL Ministry. |
Walter Cronkite | Good evening from Paris. Tonight, this broadcast originates from outside the United States for the first time. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | Wholesale prices are lower tonight than they were in August. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | As I came into the Capitol tonight, I saw the farmers, my fellow farmers, standing out in the snow. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Now, there's a new face at this place of honor tonight. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | We gather tonight at a dramatic and deeply promising time in our history, and in the history of man on earth. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | That is what I want to talk to you about tonight. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Tonight" is generally used as an adverb (general) -- approximately 99.90% of the time. "Tonight" is used about 6,856 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 |
| Adverb (general) | 99.9% | 6,849 | 1,412 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.1% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Total | 100.00% | 6,856 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "tonight": t-tonight. | |
| 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. |
| Language | Translations for "tonight"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | sonte. (various references) | |
Arabic | في هذه الليلة, هذه الليلة, هذا المساء. (various references) | |
Breton | fenoz. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | тази вечер, довечера. (various references) | |
Chamorro | lámo'na. (various references) | |
Chinese | 今晚 . (various references) | |
Czech | dnes veèer, dnešní veèer. (various references) | |
Danish | i nat. (various references) | |
Dutch | vannacht (last night). (various references) | |
Esperanto | tiun ĉi nokton, ĉi tiun nokton. (various references) | |
Farsi | امشب . (various references) | |
Finnish | tänä iltana. (various references) | |
French | cette nuit, ce soir. (various references) | |
German | heute nacht, heute abend (this evening, toniest). (various references) | |
Greek | απόψε (this evening). (various references) | |
Hebrew | הלילה, הערב. (various references) | |
Hungarian | ma este (this evening). (various references) | |
Indonesian | malam ini. (various references) | |
Italian | stasera (this, this evening). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 当夜 (that night), 今晩 (this evening), 今晩 (this evening), 今宵 (this evening), 今夜 (this evening), 今夜 (this evening), 今夕 (this evening), 今夕 (this evening). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | こんばん (this evening), こんせき (past and present, this evening, traces), こんゆう (this evening), こんや (dyer, this evening), こよい (this evening), とうや (cultivation, education, that night, training). (various references) | |
Korean | 오늘 밤. (various references) | |
Manx | oie noght, noght. (various references) | |
Norwegian | i natt. (various references) | |
Papago | hudunk. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | onighttay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | hoje à noite. (various references) | |
Quechua | tutaqa. (various references) | |
Romanian | searã sau noapte a zilei de azi, la noapte, desearã, astã searã. (various references) | |
Romany | belyàke. (various references) | |
Russian | сегодня вечером. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | večeras (this evening), ova noć, noćas (last night), današnje veče. (various references) | |
Shona | usiku huno. (various references) | |
Sicilian | stasira. (various references) | |
Slovene | zveèer. (various references) | |
Somali | caawa. (various references) | |
Spanish | esta noche (this evening). (various references) | |
Swedish | i kväll (this evening). (various references) | |
Tswana | bosigo (night). (various references) | |
Turkish | bu gece, bu akşam. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сьгодні увечері, сьогоднішній вечір. (various references) | |
Welsh | heno (this evening). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 12, Verse 20 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Eipen de autw o qeoV afrwn tauth th nukti thn yuchn sou apaitousin apo sou a de htoimasaV tini estai |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Dixit autem illi Deus stulte hac nocte animam tuam repetunt a te quae autem parasti cuius erunt |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | þa cwæð god to him; La dysega on þisse nihte hig feccað þine sawle fram þe: hwæs beoð þa ðing þe ðu gegearwudest; |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And God seide to hym, Fool, in this nyyt thei schulen take thi lijf fro thee. And whos schulen tho thingis be, that thou hast arayed? |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | But God sayde vnto him: Thou fole this night will they fetche awaye thy soule agayne from the. Then whose shall thoose thinges be which thou hast provyded? |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | But God said to him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together? |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 12, Verse 20 |
| Cebuano | Apan ang Dios miingon kaniya, `Oy, boang! Karong gabhiona ang imong kalag pagakuhaon gikan kanimo; ug kinsa na may makapanag-iya sa mga butang nga imong gitagana?` |
| Chinese | 神 卻 對 他 說 、 無 知 的 人 哪 、 今 夜 必 要 你 的 靈 魂 ． 你 所 豫 備 的 、 要 歸 誰 呢 。 |
| Croatian | Ali Bog mu reèe: 'Bezumnièe! Veæ noæas duša æe se tvoja zaiskati od tebe! A što si pripravio, èije æe biti?' |
| Danish | Men Gud sagde til ham: Du Dåre! i denne Nat kræves din Sjæl af dig; men hvem skal det høre til. som du har beredt? |
| Dutch | Maar God zeide tot hem: Gij dwaas! in dezen nacht zal men uw ziel van u afeisen; en hetgeen gij bereid hebt, wiens zal het zijn? |
| Finnish | Mutta Jumala sanoi hänelle: `Sinä mieletön, tänä yönä sinun sielusi vaaditaan sinulta pois; kenelle sitten joutuu se, minkä sinä olet hankkinut?` |
| French | Mais Dieu lui dit: Insensé! cette nuit même ton âme te sera redemandée; et ce que tu as préparé, pour qui cela sera-t-il? |
| German | Aber Gott sprach zu ihm: Du Narr! diese Nacht wird man deine Seele von dir fordern; und wes wird's sein, das du bereitet hast? |
| Haitian Creole | Men, Bondye di li: Egare! Aswè a menm yo pral mande ou nanm ou. Tou sa ou te sere yo, pou ki moun y'a ye? |
| Hungarian | Monda pedig néki az Isten: Bolond, ez éjjel elkérik a te lelkedet te tõled; a miket pedig készítettél, kiéi lesznek? |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Tetapi Allah berkata kepadanya, 'Hai bodoh! Malam ini juga engkau akan mati, lalu siapakah yang akan mendapat seluruh kekayaan yang sudah kaukumpulkan untuk dirimu itu?' |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Tetapi firman Allah kepadanya: Hai bodoh, bahwa malam ini juga nyawamu akan dituntut daripadamu; maka barang yang engkau sudah sediakan itu menjadi hak siapakah? |
| Italian | Ma Dio gli disse: Stolto, questa notte stessa ti sarà richiesta la tua vita. E quello che hai preparato di chi sarà? |
| Manx Gaelic | Agh dooyrt Jee rish, Uss ommydan yn oie noght vees dty annym er ny ghoaill void: quoi lesh eisht vees yn chooid shen t'ou uss er jaglym? |
| Maori | Otiia ka mea te Atua ki a ia, Kuware, ko a tenei po ano tangohia ai tou wairua i a koe: a ma wai nga mea kua pae na i a koe? |
| Norwegian | Men Gud sa til ham: Du dåre! i denne natt kreves din sjel av dig; hvem skal så ha det du har samlet? |
| Portuguese | Mas Deus lhe disse: Insensato, esta noite te pedirão a tua alma; e o que tens preparado, para quem será? |
| Rumanian | Dar Dumnezeu i -a zis: ,Nebunule! Chiar kn noaptea aceasta yi se va cere knapoi sufletul; wi lucrurile, pe cari le-ai pregqtit, ale cui vor fi?` |
| Shuar | `Tura Yus niin chicharuk timiai "Netse. Yamái kashi jakattame. Nuinkia Imiá Núkap ikiusumna nusha ¿yana átata?" timiai" Tímiayi. |
| Spanish | Pero Dios le dijo: "¡Necio! Esta noche vienen a pedir tu alma; y lo que has provisto, ¿para quién será?" |
| Swahili | Lakini Mungu akamwambia: `Mpumbavu wewe; leo usiku roho yako itachukuliwa. Na vitu vile vyote ulivyojilundikia vitakuwa vya nani?"` |
| Swedish | Men Gud sade till honom: 'Du dåre, i denna natt skall din själ utkrävas av dig; vem skall då få vad du har samlat i förråd?' -- |
| Uma | "Ntaa' we'i Alata'ala mpo'uli' -ki tauna toei: `He towojo! Bengi toe mpai' lau, ra'alai' -moko inoha' -nu. Jadi', hawe'ea to nurumpu tetu, hema-mi mpai' pue' -na?' |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "tonight": tonights. (additional references) | |
| |
"Tonight" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Conaghty, O'night, otnight, Shonagh, teight, ternight, toint, tonights, tonish, Tonite, tonnite, tonoight, tonvit, Toonagh. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "tonight" (pronounced tunī"t or tuwnī"t) |
| 3 | -n ī" t | ignite, dunite, knight, night, nite, overnight, reignite, reunite. |
| 4 | -uw n ī" t | dunite, reunite. |
| 3 | -n ī" t | ignite, knight, night, nite, overnight, reignite. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: hotting. | |
| Words within the letters "g-h-i-n-o-t-t" | |
-1 letter: toting. | |
-2 letters: ingot, night, ohing, thing, thong, tight, tigon. | |
-3 letters: hint, hong, into, nigh, thin, thio, ting, tint, toit, tong. | |
-4 letters: ghi, gin, git, got, hin, hit, hog, hon, hot, ion, nit, nog, noh, not, nth, tho, tin, tog, ton, tot. | |
-5 letters: go, hi, ho, in, it, no, oh, on, ti, to. | |
| Words containing the letters "g-h-i-n-o-t-t" | |
+1 letter: shotting, tonights, toothing, trothing. | |
+2 letters: fortnight, ghettoing, nightspot, throating. | |
+3 letters: antigrowth, betrothing, fortnights, hotfooting, nightspots, outhitting, outhunting, pothunting, throttling, triphthong. | |
+4 letters: anthologist, ethnologist, fortnightly, ghettoizing, glutathione, intergrowth, outbitching, outcatching, outcheating, outfighting, outhustling, outmatching, outpitching, outshooting, outshouting, outthanking, outthinking, outthrowing, outwatching, overtighten, pothuntings, potlatching, potshotting, triphthongs. | |
+5 letters: anthologists, buttonholing, ethnologists, ghostwriting, ghostwritten, glutathiones, histogenetic, housesitting, intergrowths, interwrought, nightclothes, orthogenetic, outthrobbing, outthrusting, overtightens, pathogenetic, photosetting, photostating, postmidnight, ricochetting, shortcutting, silhouetting, snapshotting, spotlighting, technologist, theatergoing, topstitching, trapshooting, triphthongal. | |
| 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. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Quotations: Speeches | 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.
