matutinal
/məˈt(j)utɪnl̩/ [-ɾə-]
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "1874, Henry James, "Professor Fargo" in The Galaxy 18(2) (August 1874): 233–253. [A] young lady was introduced who had come to request him to raise a ghost—a resolute young lady, with several ringlets and a huge ancestral umbrella, whose matutinal appetite for the supernatural had not been quenched by the raw autumnal storm."
- "'Top 'o the mornin' to ye!' he called to Flory in a hearty matutinal voice, putting on an Irish accent."
- "Pen, putting on his hat, strode forth into the air, and almost over the body of the matutinal housemaid, who was rubbing the steps at the door."
- "Certain other plants agree with certain other kinds of birds in being peculiarly matutinal. Go out as early as we will, we find the delicate white bells of the wild convolvulus in the dewy hedge, […] just as we are never too soon for the chaffinch, the blackbird, and the lark."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French matutinal (modern French matutinal), and from its etymon Late Latin mātūtīnālis (“(adjective) belonging to the morning; of or pertaining to matins; (noun) morning hymn or psalm; book of lauds”), from Latin mātūtīnus (“of, occurring in, or pertaining to the early morning, matutine”) (from Mātūta (“Roman goddess of the dawn or morning”) (from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- (“to mature, ripen; opportune, timely; good, great”)) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The second sense (“active in the morning; waking up early”) is possibly modelled after French matinal (“relating to the morning, matinal”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /məˈt(j)utɪnl̩/ [-ɾə-]
- British English: /məˈtjuː.tɪ.nl̩