diurnal

American  

[dahy-ur-nl] / daɪˈɜr nl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a day or each day; daily.

2. of or belonging to the daytime (opposed to nocturnal).

3. Botany. showing a periodic alteration of condition with day and night, as certain flowers that open by day and close by night.

4. active by day, as certain birds and insects (opposed to nocturnal).

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noun

1. Liturgy. a service book containing offices for the daily hours of prayer.

2. Archaic. a diary.

3. Archaic. a newspaper, especially a daily one.

diurnal British  

/ daɪˈɜːnəl /

adjective

1. happening during the day or daily

2. (of flowers) open during the day and closed at night

3. (of animals) active during the day Compare nocturnal

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noun

1. a service book containing all the canonical hours except matins

diurnal Scientific  

/ dī-ûr′nəl /

1. 1. Occurring once in a 24-hour period; daily.

   2. Having a 24-hour cycle. The movement of stars and other celestial objects across the sky are diurnal.

2. Most active during the daytime. Many animals, including the apes, are diurnal.

3. Having leaves or flowers that open in daylight and close at night. The morning glory and crocus are diurnal.

4. Compare nocturnal

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Other Word Forms

• diurnalness
  noun
• transdiurnal
  adjective
• undiurnal
  adjective
• diurnally
  adverb
• undiurnally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of diurnal

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin diurnālis, equivalent to diurn ( us ) daily + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

If it’s 9:00 at night and your mom wants you to do the dishes, you could try to put it off until the next day by politely pointing out that you are a diurnal animal. That means you get most of your activities done during the day. The adjective diurnal can be used to describe anything that takes place in the daytime, but it is most often used in the field of biology to describe animals that are active during the day and then sleep at night. Animals with the opposite schedule are said to be nocturnal, which means they’re active at night and sleep in the daytime. Diurnal can also be used to describe something that has a daily cycle, such as a diurnal tide that occurs once each day.

Example Sentences

Diurnal preference also manifests as differences in normal sleep.

From Scientific American • Feb. 11, 2014

The Black-breasted Buzzard is the third largest of our Diurnal Birds of Prey.

From An Australian Bird Book A Pocket Book for Field Use by Leach, John Albert

The Queen Dowager died, however, within a few months; the "Diurnal of Occurrents" says on the 24th of November.

From The Works of John Knox, Vol. 1 (of 6) by Laing, David

By the Diurnal Motion of the Primum Mobile, ascend directly Above, and descend directly Below the Horizon.

From On the magnet, magnetick bodies also, and on the great magnet the earth a new physiology, demonstrated by many arguments & experiments by Gilbert, William

Of the Diurnal motion of the Earth and Planets.

From Conversations on Natural Philosophy, in which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained by Jones, Thomas P.

Related Words

• constantly
• day-to-day
• everyday
• often
• periodic
• regular
• regularly
• routine