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crepuscular

[kri-puhs-kyuh-ler]
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct.
  2. Zoology. appearing or active in the twilight, as certain bats and insects.
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Origin of crepuscular

First recorded in 1660–70; crepuscule + -ar1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for crepuscular

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Through the crepuscular whiteness the trees hung in blotted masses.

    The Reef

    Edith Wharton

  • It is blended twilight of intellect and sensation; it is the crepuscular of thought.

  • She lay white, and as if suspended, in the crepuscular atmosphere of sunset mingling with the ashy gleam of the vast anchorage.

    Within the Tides

    Joseph Conrad

  • Some species of foxes, however, are twilight prowlers, and one or two of the fennecs are also crepuscular.

  • Crepuscular, kre-pus′kū-lar, adj. of or pertaining to twilight—also Crepus′culous.

British Dictionary definitions for crepuscular

crepuscular

adjective
  1. of or like twilight; dim
  2. (of certain insects, birds, and other animals) active at twilight or just before dawn
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Word Origin

C17: from Latin crepusculum dusk, from creper dark
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crepuscular

adj.

figurative use from 1660s; literal use from 1755, from Latin crepusculum "twilight, dusk," from creper "dusky," of unknown origin. Especially of evening twilight.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper