nocturnal
/nɑkˈtɝ.nəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of an occurrence, taking place at night, nightly.
noun
A device for telling the time at night, rather like a sundial but read according to the stars.
Example Sentences
- "nocturnal birds"
- "a suspicious nocturnal outing"
- "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 rather different instrument was the nocturnal: it enabled you to tell the time at night, provided you knew the date, from the position of the stars in the constellation of the Great Bear, which rotate around the Pole Star."
Etymology
From Middle French nocturnal, from Latin nocturnālis (“nocturnal”), from Latin nocturnus (“nocturnal”), 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /nɑkˈtɝ.nəl/
- British English: /nɒkˈtɜː.nəl/
Inflected Forms
more nocturnal (comparative)
most nocturnal (superlative)
nocturnall (alternative, obsolete)
nocturnals (plural)