night watchn.
/ˈnʌɪt wɒtʃ/, U.S. /ˈnaɪt ˌwɑtʃ/ 1.
a. A watch, guard, or vigil kept during the night; the action of keeping such a watch; the time during which such a watch is kept.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > watch or period into which night was divided
watchc1000
night watchOE
quarterc1330
vigilc1380
wakingc1384
quarter-nightc1390
morning watch1535
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > state of being awake > [noun] > action, fact, or instance of staying awake at night > or watching
night-wakeOE
night watchOE
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > watching or keeping guard > [noun] > as a watchman or sentinel > at night
night watch1611
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 54 Uigilie, nihtwaeccan.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 8 Hyrdas..waciende, & nihtwæccan healdende ofer heora heorda.
1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) 138 (MED) The tenauntes of the seide Bysshop..shal keepe theire nyghte wacche of the seide Citee.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) ix. iii. 195 Of the nycht wach the cur We geif Mesapus.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iii. i. 171 A Crietick, nay a night-watch Constable. View more context for this quotation
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Patrouille A still night-watch in warre.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 780 The Cherubim..stood armd To thir night watches in warlike Parade. View more context for this quotation
1671 F. Philipps Regale Necessarium 580 The Constables of every Parish in London..can in their Night-watches command better men than themselves to the compters or London Prisons.
1724 ‘C. Johnson’ Gen. Hist. Pyrates i. 42 They were for..seizing the Captain, and securing the rest of the Men under Hatches, when they should have the Night-Watch.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine (1780) All's well! an acclamation of safety or security pronounced by a centinel..at the time of striking the bell each half-hour during..the night watch.
1788 F. Burney Diary 25 Nov. (1842) IV. 332 These night-watches, and this close attendance, disagree with them all.
1810 S. Rogers Voy. Columbus iv. 16 Oft in the lonely night-watch.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xlvi. 236 When they stood their long night watches, his officers and men must have some nearer things to think of than Moby Dick.
1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols Pref. p. iii Taking my turn in the night-watch against thieves.
1910 H. H. Richardson Getting of Wisdom ii. 19 Trouble, poverty and night-watches had scored many lines on her forehead.
1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) xv. 284 On nightwatch it's comforting sometimes to have someone riding shotgun or walking beside you.
1988 R. Symonds Alternative Saints (BNC) 81 Members of the community..undertook the night watch in pairs which recited the Psalms antiphonally.
b. Each of the (three or four) periods or watches into which the night was divided by the ancient Jews and Romans; (hence) any similar period or division of the night. Frequently in plural. With the. The night, esp. as spent awake. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > watch or period into which night was divided > by Jews or Romans
night watcha1200
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 39 (MED) Huius noctis sunt iiiior uigilie..on þis niht beð fowuer niht wecches: Biforen euen..Mid-niht..hanecrau..morgewile.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxix. 148 Myne eyes preuente ye night watches.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms lxiii. 6 I..meditate on thee in the night-watches . View more context for this quotation
1637 J. Milton Comus 13 Might we but heare The..Village cock Count the night watches to his featherie Dames.
1721 R. Blackmore New Version of Psalms of David xix. 276 'Ere Morning dawn'd, my Cry I sent, Thou art my Hope, O Lord; And the Night Watches I prevent, Contemplating thy Word.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxxvi. 230 Flashing through the chambers of his brain, came all the fearful images of the night-watches.
1993 W. James Other Side of Heaven (BNC) 153 It was the third hour of the night watch when the banquet ended.
2. A person or (with singular or plural agreement) group of people engaged in keeping watch during the night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > one who sees > [noun] > watcher or look-out
showerOE
tootera1382
waiter1382
night watcha1400
scout-watcha1400
looker-out1562
night-watcher1569
watcher1572
scout1585
bishop1592
speculator1607
lookout1662
speculatory1775
lookout man1787
stagger1859
dog1870
eye1874
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > watching or keeping guard > [noun] > one who watches or keeps guard > one who watches or guards at night
night watcha1400
night-watcher1569
Jack-o'-lantern1663
nightwatchman1767
vigilante1899
hack1914
watch-night1953
a1400 Siege Jerusalem (Laud) (1932) 728 (MED) By þat was þe day don, dymned þe skyes..Þe nyȝt-wacche to þe walle & waytes to blowe.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 248/1 Night watche, eschaulnetes.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 7352 When the day ouer drogh..Nightwacche for to wake, waites to blow, Tore fyres in the tenttes, tendlis olofte.
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 240 The tyme..betuix the depairting of the nycht watche and the entering of the day watche.
1645 S. Rutherford Tryal & Trivmph of Faith (1845) i. 3 If..the night-watch fall fast asleep.
1701 E. Settle Virgin Prophetess iii. 17 (stage direct.) Enter at one Door Phorbas at the Head of a Party of Guards, as a Night Watch. Enter at the other Door Ulysses.
1755 J. Brown Barbarossa i. 8 Hence, Aladin: And see the night-watch close the Palace round.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. xi. 374 The tiny queen of fairy-land, Who knows thy speed, hath sent thee far, To bring, or ere the night-watch stand, Rich essence for her shadowy car.
1850 G. Grote Hist. Greece VIII. ii. lxv. 362 A little before day break, when the night-watch had just broken up.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 174 Night Watch, a trusty old collier who keeps guard on the surface during the night.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 409 At a corner two night watch in shoulder capes, their hands upon their staffholsters, loom tall.
1946 Bulletin (Sydney) 17 July 29/1 Most of the drovers, poking borak at the envious nightwatch, departed for the township.
1993 Independent on Sunday 3 Oct. (Review Suppl.) 36/5 The famous cudgel with which he once kept four muggers at bay until the night watch came up to rescue him.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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