nocturne
noun
noc·turne ˈnäk-ˌtərn 
: a work of art dealing with evening or night
especially : a dreamy pensive composition for the piano compare aubade sense 3
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The experience is no less expansive than seeing the ocean or hearing a Chopin nocturne for the first time. 
New York Times, 22 Feb. 2022 What’s more irritating than straining to hear the delicate notes of a Chopin nocturne while the man next to you takes an eternity to extract a lozenge from its crinkly cellophane wrapper? Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 23 Aug. 2021 The first wistful notes of the fourth movement nocturne coincided with the first drops of a sudden rainstorm, which sent some lawn listeners to the exits early. BostonGlobe.com, 2 Aug. 2021 The ensemble backdrop is crystalline, misty sighs, while the solo cello line expands into melancholy arias without words; sometimes the tone is passionate, dark-hued nocturne, sometimes ethereal lullaby. New York Times, 1 Jan. 2021 Roberts made a jazz nocturne of the slow middle movement, his complex chords and original themes catapulting a Roaring ’20s work directly into the 21st century. Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 6 Dec. 2019 The nocturne, marked Lento con gran espressione, begins with a brief, repeated introduction. Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 14 Mar. 2020 Sitting at his Petrof piano in his penthouse, Martins reels off Frédéric Chopin’s nocturnes with aplomb. Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2020 As Cai grew old in the 1980s, his son, Cai Wanghuai, played the nocturne to comfort him. The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019 See More
New York Times, 22 Feb. 2022 What’s more irritating than straining to hear the delicate notes of a Chopin nocturne while the man next to you takes an eternity to extract a lozenge from its crinkly cellophane wrapper? Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 23 Aug. 2021 The first wistful notes of the fourth movement nocturne coincided with the first drops of a sudden rainstorm, which sent some lawn listeners to the exits early. BostonGlobe.com, 2 Aug. 2021 The ensemble backdrop is crystalline, misty sighs, while the solo cello line expands into melancholy arias without words; sometimes the tone is passionate, dark-hued nocturne, sometimes ethereal lullaby. New York Times, 1 Jan. 2021 Roberts made a jazz nocturne of the slow middle movement, his complex chords and original themes catapulting a Roaring ’20s work directly into the 21st century. Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 6 Dec. 2019 The nocturne, marked Lento con gran espressione, begins with a brief, repeated introduction. Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 14 Mar. 2020 Sitting at his Petrof piano in his penthouse, Martins reels off Frédéric Chopin’s nocturnes with aplomb. Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2020 As Cai grew old in the 1980s, his son, Cai Wanghuai, played the nocturne to comfort him. The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
borrowed from French, noun derivative of nocturne "of the night," going back to Middle French, borrowed from Latin nocturnus — more at nocturnal
First Known Use
1814, in the meaning defined above
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