Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

night watch

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.15 in modern English

Syllables
night watch
IPA
22
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A watch kept on some premises, or on a town, by guards during the night.

noun

One or more of the guards on such a watch.

noun

One of the watches kept on a marine vessel.

noun

The sailors standing such a watch.

Etymology

From Middle English nightwacche, nyȝt-wacche, nyghte wacche, nyȝt wacche, from Old English nihtwæċċe, a variant of nihtwacu (“nightwatch”), equivalent to night + watch. Cognate with West Frisian nachtwacht (“nightwatch”), Dutch nachtwacht, nachtwake (“nightwatch”), German Nachtwache (“nightwatch”) and Nachtwächter (“night watchman”), Swedish nattvakt (“nightwatch”), Icelandic næturvakt (“nightwatch”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: nightwacche, nihtwæċċe

Inflected Forms

night watches (plural) night-watch (alternative) nightwatch (alternative)

Derived Forms

nightwatcher

Frequently Paired Words

first watch graveyard watch

Synonyms

night watchman graveyard watch middle watch midwatch

Questions

What does night watch mean?
A watch kept on some premises, or on a town, by guards during the night.
Where does night watch come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce night watch

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “night watch”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “night watch”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “night watch” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.