Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

sennight

 
Dictionary: sen·night   (sĕn'īt') pronunciation

n. Archaic
A week.

[Middle English senight, contraction of seveniht, from Old English seofon nihta, seven nights : seofon, seven; see seven + nihta, pl. of niht, night; see night.]


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Wordsmith Words: sennight
Top

(SEN-yt)

noun
A week.

Etymology
From Middle English, from Old English seofon nihta, from seofon (seven) + nihta, plural of niht (night)

Fortnight is a cousin of today's word. Twice as long as a sennight, it's a compressed form of "fourteen night".

Usage
"CHORUS: For now sad Charles unto the throne is come. First his drunk grandam fell down in a fit and died, And then a sennight later his Mother Queen Bit by a rabid Corgi ran naked through the streets, Froth'd at the mouth and breath'd her last. So Charles was crown'd; but now the angry mob Demand that he be brought to Tyburn Tree - Such is the curse on all odd-numbered Charleses." — Emily Sheffield; Jackdaw; The Guardian (London); May 29, 1996.


Obscure Words: sennight
Top


the space of seven nights and days, week
 
 
Learn More
sevennight
fortnight
532

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved.  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd Read more