夜

Denotes "night" as a temporal block (the period between sunset and sunrise). When glossed as "dark," it refers to the darkness inherent to this time of day rather than a general lack of light.

• Noun: The night; the period of darkness.
• Adverbial of Time: Typically functions as "at night" or "during the night" when preceding a verb.
• Verbal Nuance: In poetic or archaic registers, it can imply the act of passing or spending the night (though 宿 is the standard term for lodging).

• vs. 夕 (Evening/Dusk): 夕 generally refers to the transition and fading light of evening; 夜 refers to the established state of darkness.
• vs. 晝 (Day): The standard binary opposition. In this duality, 夜 functions as a temporal unit rather than a descriptive quality of light.
• vs. 宵 (Night/Watch): While overlapping, 宵 often carries poetic connotations or refers to the night as a divisible unit of time (e.g., night watches) or specific calendar eves. 夜 is the broader, general term.

Distinguish between temporal darkness and visual obscurity. If the text describes a lack of light in a vacuum (e.g., a dark room), expect 暗 or 黑. Use of 夜 to mean "dark" almost always implies that the darkness is a result of it being nighttime.