diurnal

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /daɪˈɝnəl/ UK /daɪˈɜːnəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
active during the day; occurring or recurring daily

Most songbirds are diurnal, feeding and singing in daylight hours.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · active during the day;... daily daytime quotidian circadian

Opposites

nocturnal nightly

Word family

Derived forms diurnallydiurnality

Related forms journal journey sojourn

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

diurnal variation
a pattern of change that occurs over the course of a day

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Late Latin diurnalis ('daily'), from Latin diurnus ('of the day'), from dies ('day'), from Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- ('to shine, sky, day').

diurnus Latin dies Latin *dyew- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# diurnal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /daɪˈɝnəl/
**IPA (UK):** /daɪˈɜːnəl/

## Meanings
1. active during the day; occurring or recurring daily

## Examples
- Most songbirds are diurnal, feeding and singing in daylight hours.

## Synonyms
- daily
- daytime
- quotidian
- circadian

## Antonyms
- nocturnal
- nightly

## Derived Forms
- diurnally
- diurnality

## Related Forms
- journal
- journey
- sojourn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: diurnus
- Root: dies
- Root: *dyew-

## Etymology
From Late Latin diurnalis ('daily'), from Latin diurnus ('of the day'), from dies ('day'), from Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- ('to shine, sky, day').

## AI Etymology
Diurnal is from Late Latin diurnalis ('daily'), from Latin diurnus ('of the day'), from dies ('day'), from Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- ('to shine, sky, day'). Important recorded forms include diurnus (Latin), dies (Latin), and *dyew- (Proto-Indo-European). The current sense covers active during the day; occurring or recurring daily. The wider family includes derived forms such as diurnally and diurnality and related words such as journal, journey, and sojourn.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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