pernoctation
/ˌpɜɹnɑkˈteɪʃ(ə)n/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The action of abiding through the night at a location; (countable) an instance of this; an overnight stay.
Formal; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The next morning they [Mary and Joseph] return back with ſpeed toward Jeruſalem; and at night repairing to their former lodging, neither there it ſeems heard they any thing of him [Jesus] (which argues, for this time of his abſence his pernoctation in the Temple), and ſo they muſt paſs this ſecond night alſo in great deſolation."
- "For the purposes of this clause, residing in Oxford shall mean the occupation of a dwelling-house or lodging in Oxford with pernoctation, and residing in College shall mean the occupation of rooms in College, or of a house in immediate communication with the College, with pernoctation."
- "In 1599 Sʳ Robert Leech and Sʳ John Meades were guilty of pernoctation and breaking windows. They had been sent to prison by the Proctor."
- "[I]n general the veſpers begin a little before ſunſet; the matins at four o'clock in the morning, and the liturgy or communion about nine; and when the vigil, or pernoctation, is performed, that ſervice begins after ſunſet; and there is no ſervice, in the morning following, till the communion."
Etymology
PIE word *nókʷts Learned borrowing from Late Latin pernoctātiō (“act of spending of the night (doing something, particularly praying)”), from pernoctō (“to spend the night”) + -tiō (action noun suffix). Pernoctō is from per- (prefix with the sense of completion or entirety forming verbs) + nox (“night; darkness”). By surface analysis, pernoctate + -ion.
Word Breakdown
- Root: *negʷ-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌpɜɹnɑkˈteɪʃ(ə)n/
- British English: /ˌpɜːnɒkˈteɪʃn̩/