diurnal

CEFRC2

/daɪˈɜːnəl/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Active during the day rather than at night.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

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

Examples

  • Cheetahs are diurnal because their hunting technique relies on sight.

  • Degus make lovely pets: they are diurnal and hence are awake when you are.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
3

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

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

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

  3. Done once every day; daily, quotidian.

More examples

In context

  • Most birds are diurnal.

  • Ere twice the horses of the sun shall bring / Their fiery torcher his diurnal ring.

  • However, in general, lizards are more diurnal than rattlers, which may be one of the reasons why young rattlers are more diurnal than adults.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank creatures are most active when the sun is shining.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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