10. “... Monday, November 18th, by four o'clock, and shall probably trespass on your hospitality till the Saturday se’night following...” (Page 43):
A sennight is a period of 7 days and 7 nights. So, Mr. Collins is saying that he plans to stay for a week past Saturday – almost two weeks total. Sennight is derived from middle english (15th century): “seofon nihta.” The word sennight stayed a form of British English until the 20th century when the shorter term “week” finally took over. Austen uses this letter for character development as the reader (and the Bennet family) begins to think about William Collins and what type of person he will turn out to be.
"Sennight - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sennight.
"World Wide Words: Sennight." Web. 06 Mar. 2010. http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-sen1.htm.
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