noctula

Latin

Etymology

From noctua (“night-owl”) +‎ -ula (diminutive suffix).

Sense 2 borrowed from Italian nottola and sense 3 from French noctule, both ultimately from sense 1 of the Latin word. Among the earliest examples of its scientific usage is the species name Nyctalus noctula, coined in 1774 by Schreber.

Pronunciation

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnok.tu.la/, [ˈnɔkt̪ulä]

Noun

noctula f (genitive noctulae); first declension

2. (Late Latin, hapax) presumably same sense as noctua
   • ca. 5th–6th c. CE, Mustio, Gynaecia, section LXXXIII:

     iubebant nutrientibus ut ubera omnium animalium manducarent vespertilionum etiam conbustorum vel noctule cineres cum vino bibere dabant vel cum aqua solutum

     They would have nursing women eat the udders of any animal and even drink solutions of water or wine containing the ashes of incinerated bats or night-owl(s).

4. (Medieval Latin) latinisation of the Italian nottola (name for various bats and birds)
   • Ca. 1220's, Sermon by Saint Anthony of Padua :

     Ululae sunt aves nocturnales, dictae ab ululatione vocis quam efferunt, quas vulgo cavones vel noctulas dicunt.

     Screech-owls are nocturnal birds named after the cacophany that they emit. They are called cavones or noctulas in the vernacular.

   • 1338, Deed of sale in Vicovaro, Italy :

     et medietatem castellarii seu casalis quod dicitur Gripta de Noctulis

     …and half of the estate known as Gripta de Noctulis [sc. Grotta di Nottole]…

6. (New Latin, biology) a noctule
   • 1804, Johannes Hermann, Observationes zoologicae quibus novae complures aliaeque animalium species describuntur et illustrantur, pages 17, 172:

     (Page 17:) Noctula quam Ao. 1782. d. 13. Februarii deciduam ex templo cepi, in museo meo scatulae inclusa hybernare continuavit, quamvis quotidie calefieret. (Page 172:) Vespertilionem noctulam vivam clamosamque, etiam praetereuntium calceis navali pice forte imbutam, tamen avide petiit, diverberatamque diu rostro tandem deglutiit.

     (Page 17:) On the thirteenth of February, 1782, I took a fallen noctule from a cathedral and placed it in a chest in my study, where it continued to hibernate despite the warmth. (Page 172:) [The Ardea ciconia] eagerly chased down a Vespertilio noctula, even though the latter was thoroughly stained with pitch from the boots of passers-by, and after brutally pecking it for quite some time, finally swallowed it alive and screaming.

   • 1830, Johannes Müller, De glandularum secernentium structura penitiori earumque prima formatione in homine atque animalibus, page 40:

     Secretum in Vespertilione murino et V. noctula foetidum atque adiposum auctore Ill. Tiedemann alis lubricandis inservit.

     [The species] Vespertilio murinus and Vespertilio noctula use a foul greasy secretion to lubricate their wings, according to Tiedemann.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	noctula	noctulae
Genitive	noctulae	noctulārum
Dative	noctulae	noctulīs
Accusative	noctulam	noctulās
Ablative	noctulā	noctulīs
Vocative	noctula	noctulae

Descendants

• Italian: nottola (see there for further descendants)
• Old French: nuitre
• Venetian: nòtoła

Forms showing a forward shift in stress, as if *noctulla:

• Franco-Provençal: itoulă, niétôla
• Old Occitan: nuchola
  • Occitan: nichola, nechola, nuechora

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “nŏctua”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 7: N–Pas, page 163