nocturnal

English

Etymology

From Middle French nocturnal, from Latin nocturnus (“nocturnal, nightly”), from Latin nox (“night”), from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”). Cognates include Ancient Greek νύξ (núx), Sanskrit नक्ति (nákti), Old English niht (English night) and Proto-Slavic *noťь.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /nɒkˈtɜː(ɹ)nəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /nɑkˈtɚnəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl

Adjective

nocturnal (comparative more nocturnal, superlative most nocturnal)

1. (of a person, creature, group, or species) Primarily active during the night.

   nocturnal birds

2. (of an occurrence) Taking place at night, nightly.
   • 2013 January 1, Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore, “Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight”, in American Scientist^[1], volume 101, number 1, page 47–48:

     Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported […] that pine siskins (Spinus pinus) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.

   a suspicious nocturnal outing

Antonyms

• diurnal

Derived terms

Terms derived from nocturnal

• nocturnal arc
• nocturnal arch
• nocturnal delirium
• nocturnal emission

• nocturnalist
• nocturnality
• nocturnally

• nocturnal penile tumescence
• nocturnal pollution
• nonnocturnal

Coordinate terms

• crepuscular

Translations

primarily active during the night

• Armenian: գիշերային (hy) (gišerayin)
• Belarusian: начны́ (načný)
• Bulgarian: но́щен (bg) (nóšten)
• Catalan: nocturn (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 夜的 (zh) (yè de), 晝伏夜出 (zh), 昼伏夜出 (zh) (zhòufúyèchū)

• Czech: noční (cs)
• Dutch: nachtelijk (nl), nacht-
• Esperanto: nokta
• Finnish: yö- (former part of compound), yöllinen (fi), öinen (fi), nokturnaalinen (scientific)
• French: nocturne (fr)
• Galician: nocturno m
• German: nachtaktiv (de)
• Greek: νυκτόβιος (el) (nyktóvios)
• Hungarian: éjjeli (hu)

• Ido: noktala (io)
• Interlingua: nocturne
• Japanese: 夜行 (やこう, yakō, やぎょう, yagyō), 夜行性 (やこうせい, yakōsei)
• Korean: 야행 (ko) (yahaeng), 야행성 (ko) (yahaengseong)
• Latvian: naksnīgs
• Maori: ohopō, moeao
• Persian: شبانه‏‎ (fa) (šabâne)
• Polish: nocny (pl)
• Portuguese: nocturno (pt), noturno (pt) m
• Russian: ночно́й (ru) (nočnój)
• Spanish: nocturno (es)
• Swedish: natt-, nattaktiv, aktiv om natten
• Turkish: gececil, noktürnâl (tr)
• Ukrainian: нічни́й (ničnýj)
• West Frisian: nachtlik, nacht-

taking place at night

• Catalan: nocturn (ca)
• Czech: noční (cs)
• Dutch: nachtelijk (nl)
• German: nächtlich (de)
• Greek: νυχτερινός (el) (nychterinós), νυχτιάτικος (el) (nychtiátikos)
• Interlingua: nocturne

• Latvian: naksnīgs
• Polish: nocny (pl)
• Russian: ночно́й (ru) (nočnój)
• Spanish: nocturno (es)
• Swedish: nattlig (sv)
• Turkish: geceleyin olan, geceye ait

Noun

nocturnal (plural nocturnals)

1. A person or creature that is active at night.
2. (historical) A device for telling the time at night, rather like a sundial but read according to the stars.

---

Old French

Adjective

nocturnal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nocturnale)

1. nocturnal

References

• (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (nocturnal)