Florence (“the Lady with the Lamp”), 1820–1910, English nurse: reformer of hospital conditions and procedures; reorganizer of nurse's training programs.
O.E. næctigalæ, compound formed in P.Gmc. (cf. Du. nachtegaal, Ger. Nachtigall) from *nakht- "night" (see night) + *galon "to sing," related to O.E. giellan "yell" (see yell). With parasitic -n- that appeared c.1250. Dutch nightingale "frog" is attested from 1769. In Japanese, "nightingale floor" is said to be the term for boards that creak when you walk on them.