Tagundnachtgleiche

equinox

noun tahk-unt-NAHKHT-glai-khe Less Common

Usage Note

Tagundnachtgleiche literally means "day-and-night-equal", the moment when day and night are of equal length, feminine: die Tagundnachtgleiche. The Latinate synonym Äquinoktium also exists. It occurs in spring and autumn.

Examples

"Zur Tagundnachtgleiche feiern manche ein Erntefest."

Natural Translation

At the equinox some people hold a harvest festival.

Literal Translation

At-the day-and-night-equal celebrate some a harvest-feast.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore German by topic

GermanNow

German Body Parts: Vocabulary + How to Say It Hurts

Learn German body parts with der/die/das and plurals, plus the two ways to say something hurts: Mir tut der Kopf weh and Ich habe Kopfschmerzen.

June 9, 2026 5 min read

GermanNow

German Greetings by Region: Grüß Gott to Grüezi

German greetings change by region: say Moin in Hamburg, Grüß Gott in Bavaria, Grüezi in Switzerland. A map of every hello and goodbye, plus du vs. Sie.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Two-Way Prepositions: Accusative or Dative?

Use accusative for movement into a place (wohin?) and dative for a fixed location (wo?). Master all nine German two-way prepositions with one simple test.

June 9, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

Order Food in German: Restaurant Phrases

Order food in German with confidence: use ich hätte gern, read the Speisekarte, ask die Rechnung bitte, and handle zusammen oder getrennt like a local.

June 5, 2026 5 min read