Webster's Dictionary, 1913

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Night-faring adjective Going or traveling in the night. Gay.

Nightfall noun The close of the day. Swift.

Nightgown noun A loose gown used for undress; also, a gown used for a sleeping garment.

Nightingale noun [ Middle English nihtegale , nightingale , Anglo-Saxon nihtegale ; niht night + galan to sing, akin to English yell ; confer Dutch nachtegaal , Old Saxon nahtigala , Old High German nahtigala , German nachtigall , Swedish näktergal , Danish nattergal . See Night , and Yell .]
1. (Zoology) A small, plain, brown and gray European song bird ( Luscinia luscinia ). It sings at night, and is celebrated for the sweetness of its song.

2. (Zoology) A larger species ( Lucinia philomela ), of Eastern Europe, having similar habits; the thrush nightingale. The name is also applied to other allied species.

Mock nightingale . (Zoology) See Blackcap , noun , 1 (a) .

Nightish adjective Of or pertaining to night.

Nightjar noun A goatsucker, esp. the European species. See Illust. of Goatsucker .

Nightless adjective Having no night.

Nightlong adjective Lasting all night.

Nightly adjective Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.

Nightly adverb At night; every night.

Nightman noun ; plural Nightmen One whose business is emptying privies by night.

Nightmare noun [ Night + mare incubus. See Mare incubus.]
1. A fiend or incubus formerly supposed to cause trouble in sleep.

2. A condition in sleep usually caused by improper eating or by digestive or nervous troubles, and characterized by a sense of extreme uneasiness or discomfort (as of weight on the chest or stomach, impossibility of motion or speech, etc.), or by frightful or oppressive dreams, from which one wakes after extreme anxiety, in a troubled state of mind; incubus. Dunglison.

3. Hence, any overwhelming, oppressive, or stupefying influence.

Nightshade noun [ Anglo-Saxon nichtscadu .] (Botany) A common name of many species of the genus Solanum , given esp. to the Solanum nigrum , or black nightshade, a low, branching weed with small white flowers and black berries reputed to be poisonous.

Deadly nightshade . Same as Belladonna (a) . -- Enchanter's nightshade . See under Enchanter . -- Stinking nightshade . See Henbane . - - Three-leaved nightshade . See Trillium .

Nightshirt noun A kind of nightgown for men.

Nighttime noun The time from dusk to dawn; -- opposed to daytime .

Nightward adjective Approaching toward night.

Nigraniline noun [ Latin niger black + English aniline .] (Chemistry) The complex, nitrogenous, organic base and dyestuff called also aniline black .

Nigrescent adjective [ Latin nigrescens , present participle of nigrescere to grow black, from niger black. See Negro .] Growing black; changing to a black color; approaching to blackness. Johnson.

Nigrification noun [ Latin nigrificare to blacken; niger black + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy .] The act or process of making black. [ R.] Johnson.

Nigrine noun [ Latin niger black: confer French nigrine .] (Min.) A ferruginous variety of rutile.

Nigritic adjective (Ethnol.) Pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, negroes, or of the Negritos, Papuans, and the Melanesian races; negritic.

Nigritude noun [ Latin nigritudo , from niger black.] Blackness; the state of being black. Lamb.

Nigromancie noun Necromancy. [ Obsolete]

Nigromancien noun A necromancer. [ Obsolete]

These false enchanters or nigromanciens .
Chaucer.

Nigrosine noun [ From Latin niger black.] (Chemistry) A dark blue dyestuff, of the induline group; -- called also azodiphenyl blue .

Nigua noun [ Spanish ] (Zoology) The chigoe.

Nihil noun [ Latin ] Nothing.

Nihilism noun [ Latin nihil nothing: confer French nihilisme . See Annihilate .]
1. Nothingness; nihility.

2. The doctrine that nothing can be known; scepticism as to all knowledge and all reality.

3. (Politics) The theories and practices of the Nihilists.

Nihilist noun [ Confer French nihiliste . See Nihilism .]
1. One who advocates the doctrine of nihilism; one who believes or teaches that nothing can be known, or asserted to exist.

2. (Politics) A member of a secret association (esp. in Russia), which is devoted to the destruction of the present political, religious, and social institutions.

Nihilistic adjective Of, pertaining to, or characterized by, nihilism.

Nihility noun [ Confer French nihilité . See Nihilism .] Nothingness; a state of being nothing.

Nil [ See Nill , transitive verb ] Will not. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Nil noun & adjective [ Latin , a contr. of nihil .] Nothing; of no account; worthless; -- a term often used for canceling, in accounts or bookkeeping. A. J. Ellis.

Nile noun [ Latin Nilus , Greek ....] The great river of Egypt.

Nile bird . (Zoology) (a) The wryneck . [ Prov. Eng.] (b) The crocodile bird. -- Nile goose (Zoology) , the Egyptian goose. See Note under Goose , 2.

Nilgau noun (Zoology) see Nylghau .

Nill transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Nilled ; present participle & verbal noun Nilling .] [ Anglo-Saxon nilan , nyllan ; ne not + willan to will. See No , and Will .] Not to will; to refuse; to reject. [ Obsolete]

Certes, said he, I nill thine offered grace.
Spenser.

Nill intransitive verb To be unwilling; to refuse to act.

The actions of the will are "velle" and "nolle," to will and nill .
Burton.

Will he, nill he , whether he wills it or not.

Nill noun [ Confer Ir. & Gael. neul star, light. Confer Nebula .]
1. Shining sparks thrown off from melted brass.

2. Scales of hot iron from the forge. Knight.

Nilometer noun [ Greek ...; ... the Nile + ... measure: confer French nilomètre .] An instrument for measuring the rise of water in the Nile during its periodical flood.

Niloscope noun [ Greek ...; ... the Nile + ... to observe.] A Nilometer.

Nilotic adjective [ Latin Niloticus , from Nilus th Nile, Greek ...: confer French nilotique .] Of or pertaining to the river Nile; as, the Nilotic crocodile.

Nilt [ Contr. from ne wilt .] Wilt not. [ Obsolete]

Nim transitive verb [ imperfect Nam or Nimmed ; past participle Nomen or Nome ] [ Anglo-Saxon niman . √ 7. Confer Nimble .] To take; to steal; to filch. [ Obsolete]

This canon it in his hand nam .
Chaucer.

Nimbiferous adjective [ Latin nimbifer ; nimbus a cloud + ferre to bear.] Serving to bring clouds or stormy weather.

Nimble adjective [ Compar. Nimbler ; superl. Nimblest .] [ Middle English nimel , probably orig., quick at seizing, from nimen to take, Anglo-Saxon niman ; akin to Dutch nemen , German nehmen , Old High German neman , Icelandic nema , Goth. nima, and probably to Greek ... to distribute. √ 7. Confer Nomand , Numb .] Light and quick in motion; moving with ease and celerity; lively; swift.

Through the mid seas the nimble pinnace sails.
Pope.

» Nimble is sometimes used in the formation of self- explaining compounds; as, nimble -footed, nimble - pinioned, nimble -winged, etc.

Nimble Will (Botany) , a slender, branching, American grass ( Muhlenbergia diffusa ), of some repute for grazing purposes in the Mississippi valley.

Syn. -- Agile; quick; active; brisk; lively; prompt.

Nimbleness noun The quality of being nimble; lightness and quickness in motion; agility; swiftness.

Nimbless noun Nimbleness. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Nimbly adverb In a nimble manner; with agility; with light, quick motion.

Nimbose adjective [ Latin nimbosus, from nimbus cloud.] Cloudy; stormy; tempestuous.

Nimbus noun ; plural Latin Nimbi , English Nimbuses . [ Latin , a rain storm, a rain cloud, the cloudshaped which enveloped the gods when they appeared on earth.]
1. (Fine Arts) A circle, or disk, or any indication of radiant light around the heads of divinities, saints, and sovereigns, upon medals, pictures, etc.; a halo. See Aureola , and Glory , noun , 5.

» "The nimbus is of pagan origin." "As an atribute of power , the nimbus is often seen attached to the heads of evil spirits." Fairholl.

2. (Meteor.) A rain cloud; one of the four principal varieties of clouds. See Cloud .