This week’s theme
There’s an antonym for it

This week’s words
estivate
diurnal
ultimogeniture
distributary
dissensus

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(dy-UHR-nuhl)

MEANING:

adjective: 1. Of or pertaining to the daytime. 2. Occurring every day.
noun: Diary; journal; newspaper.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin diurnalis, from Latin diurnus (daily), from dies (day). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dyeu- (to shine) that also gave us adjourn, diary, diet, circadian, journal, journey, quotidian, sojourn, diva, divine, deify, Jupiter, Jove, July, Zeus, jovial, and Sanskrit deva (god). Earliest documented use: 1430.
The opposite is nocturnal.

USAGE:

“His dictionary described moths as ‘nightflying butterflies’ so if this moth was diurnal, how come it was a moth and not a butterfly.”
Uwe Tellkamp; The Tower; Penguin; 2014.

See more usage examples of diurnal in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: