benight

English

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benight

/bɪˈnaɪt/ UK
/bɪˈnaɪt/ US
/bə-/ US

Sounds like beknight · Rhymes with -aɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English benyghten, binighten, bynyȝten, equivalent to be- + night.

verb benights · benighting · benighted · benighten

archaic, transitive To overtake (a traveller etc) with the darkness of night, especially before shelter is reached. How far might I have been on my way by this time! I am made to tread thoſe ſteps thrice over, which I needed not to have trod but once: Yea now alſo I am like to be benighted, for the day is almost ſpent.
archaic, transitive To darken; to shroud or obscure. The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning; / Their fighters drink the rivers up, their shafts benight the air.
archaic, transitive To plunge or be overwhelmed in moral or intellectual darkness. Can we whose souls are lighted With Wisdom from on high, Can we to men benighted The lamp of life deny?

Translations

Every language

verb to darken — see also darken

Español	oscurecer
Deutsch	umnachten

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MLA

"benight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/benight. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

benight. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/benight

Chicago

"benight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/benight.

BibTeX

@misc{benight_2026,
  title = {benight},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/benight},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}