A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475-1664
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0]
Nicht-, Nychtly, adv. Also: -li(e, -lye, night-, nyghtlie. [Late ME. neghtly (1457), e.m.E. nyghtly (1496), nightly.] Nightly: by night; on successive nights, every night; for each night, per night. 1475 Prestwick B. Rec. 26.
That scho distroit him daili and nychtli in the ettin … of his rye a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 1009.
That thai suld ryng a commoun bell Nichtiy befor the cokis can crawe 1500 (c 1580) Edinb. B. Rec. I. 85.
That thair be nichtlie ane watche 1522 Mar & Kellie MSS. 12.
Ane … clerk … sall nightlie … take the compts 1535 Stewart 53990.
Sic gluttony tha vsit nicht and da … Nychtlie but watche ȝeid to thair bed to ly 1529 Lynd. Complaynt 80.
Quhen I lay nychtlie be thy cheik 1525 St. A. Formulare I. 269.
The … murthuris and reyffis that tha committ daylie and nychtlye 1539 Glasgow Protocols Abstracts IV. 118.
For the synging nychtlie of ane gloriosa … the quhilk noit I will it be usit nychtlie 1545 (c 1580) Edinb. B. Rec. II. 118.
That ane baillie nychtlie … walk nychtlie 1548 Corr. M. Lorraine 249.
Daly and nychtlie is at all ouris carmosche of hakbuttis 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 9156. 1565 Inverness Rec. I. 125. 1558-66 Knox II. 319.
Thei … frequented nyghtlie masking 1568 Lanark B. Rec. 41.
That thai sall walk hes it cumis abowt nychtlie 1584 Edinb. B. Rec. IV. 346.
That at ten houris at evin, nichtlie, the greitt bell gif fourty jowes 1585 Ib. 420.
The puir young anes … quha lyes nychtlie in the buith wyndois and durris 1586 Gray Lett. & P. 142.
Thaer is nichtlie cartells tint, and pasqwills affixit, agaenst the King 1589–90 Edinb. B. Rec. V. 13.
[The watch] to haif nichtlie ij s. ilk persoun 1592 Aberd. B. Rec. II. 76. 1595 Edinb. B. Rec. V. 128. 1608 Criminal Trials II. 543. 1633 Aberd. Sheriff Ct. II. 365.
Ane firlott quhyt aittis ilk heid of nolt nightlie 1644 Aberd. B. Rec. IV. 18.
The counsell … ordanes ane watch to be keipit be day allsweill as nichtlie c1650 Spalding II. 101. c1650 Ib. 188.
The countrie people about this tyme hard nichtlie tovking of drumis 1657 Aberd. B. Rec. IV. 166.
That the new shore of this burgh is now weill advancit and if nichtlie prosecut may happilie be finishit within few yeirs 1664 Nicoll Diary 427.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Nychtly adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/nychtly>
