Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

diurnal

/daɪˈɝ.nəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English

Syllables
di-ur-nal
IPA
/daɪˈɝ.nəl/
8
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Happening or occurring during daylight, or primarily active during that time.

adj

Said of a flower that is open, or releasing its perfume during daylight hours, but not at night.

adj

Having a daily cycle that is completed every 24 hours, usually referring to tasks, processes, tides, or sunrise to sunset; circadian.

adj

Done once every day; daily, quotidian.

adj

Published daily.

Archaic

noun

A flower that opens only in the day.

noun

A book containing canonical offices performed during the day, hence not matins.

noun

A diary or journal.

Archaic

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Latin diurnālis, from diēs (“day”). Doublet of journal.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *dyew-, diurnālis

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /daɪˈɝ.nəl/
  • British English: /daɪˈɜːnəl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

diurnals (plural)

Derived Forms

bidiurnal diurnalist diurnality diurnally diurnalness equidiurnal intradiurnal nondiurnal semidiurnal sesquidiurnal terdiurnal tridiurnal

Phrases

diurnal aberration diurnal active photolocation diurnal arc diurnal motion

Frequently Paired Words

crepuscular matutinal vespertine diel

Synonyms

circadian daily daytime diurnal

Antonyms

nocturnal nightly nondiurnal

Rhymes With

journal internal external colonel eternal maternal kernel paternal nocturnal fraternal infernal bernal

Questions

How do you pronounce diurnal?
The recorded pronunciation is /daɪˈɝ.nəl/.
What does diurnal mean?
Happening or occurring during daylight, or primarily active during that time.
Where does diurnal come from?
It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce diurnal

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “diurnal”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/daɪˈɝ.nəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “diurnal”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “diurnal” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.