diel

American  

[dahy-uhl, dee-] / ˈdaɪ əl, ˈdi- /

adjective

Biology.

1. of or relating to a 24-hour period, especially a regular daily cycle, as of the physiology or behavior of an organism.

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Etymology

Origin of diel

1930–35; apparently < Latin di ( ēs ) day + -al ¹, spelling with e to avoid identity with dial

Example Sentences

By the 1990s researchers had learned enough to describe the diel migration as a cloud of organisms rising and falling in unison.

From Scientific American • Aug. 20, 2022

Estimates of the amount of carbon sequestered by migrating organisms vary widely because so much about the diel migration remains a mystery.

From Scientific American • Aug. 20, 2022

Longhurst, A. R. & Glen Harrison, W. Vertical nitrogen flux from the oceanic photic zone by diel migrant zooplankton and nekton.

From Nature • Apr. 17, 2018

Zhang, X. & Dam, H. G. Downward export of carbon by diel migrant mesozooplankton in the central equatorial Pacific.

From Nature • Apr. 17, 2018

"Quo' he, Ilk cream-fac'd pawky chiel Thought he was cunning as the diel, And here they cam' awa to steal Jenny's bawbee."

From Notes and Queries, Number 179, April 2, 1853. A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Bell, George