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Posted By: Hydra Active in the morning - 12/04/06 07:01 AM
What is the technical word for "active in the morning" on the pattern of "diurnal" (day); "nocturnal" (night) and "crespuscular" (evening)?
Posted By: tsuwm Re: Active in the morning - 12/04/06 11:12 AM
Doesn't crepuscular (one s) cover both dawn and dusk?
(scurrying to OneLook..)

2. Zoology Becoming active at twilight or before sunrise, as do bats and certain insects and birds. [AHD4]
Posted By: Hydra Re: Active in the morning - 12/04/06 12:13 PM
That's what I thought too. But here's how I came to ask: the definition for crepuscular is "appearing or active in twilight." The definition for twilight is "the soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, caused by the refraction and scattering of the sun's rays from the atmosphere; the period of the evening during which this takes place." Now, I know as well as you do that "twilight" means between day and night, whether that is dusk or dawn. But when the dictionary specifies otherwise, you begin to question what you'd formerly taken for granted, and wonder if what had seemed obvious and universally agreed upon was rather a common misconception—such as the idea that "people only use 10 per cent of their brains" (untrue).

Am I splitting hairs here?
Posted By: BranShea Re: Active in the morning - 12/04/06 01:19 PM
Quote:

What is the technical word for "active in the morning" on the pattern of "diurnal" (day); "nocturnal" (night) and "crespuscular" (evening)?




My first thought was of "auroral" and the Old Webster gives this as
acceptable.
Posted By: wsieber Re: Active in the morning - 12/04/06 01:23 PM
matinal is what you are looking for, but matutinal is also in the OED, and even "matitudinal" yields 190 Google hits..
Posted By: tsuwm Re: Active in the morning - 12/04/06 02:31 PM
well, I go back to the AHD def'n of crepuscular, "at twilight or before sunrise."
Posted By: Jackie Re: Active in the morning - 12/06/06 02:49 PM
To me, twilight's evening only; pre-dawn (in addition to the terms above) is morning.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: Active in the morning - 12/06/06 03:02 PM
Quote:

To me, twilight's evening only; pre-dawn (in addition to the terms above) is morning.




and I'm not disputing that -- I'm merely giving one def'n for crepuscular.

How about this? : Within the definition of crepuscular are the terms matinal (or "matutinal") and vespertine, denoting animals active in the morning (dawn) and evening (dusk) respectively.
Posted By: Jackie Re: Active in the morning - 12/06/06 03:22 PM
matinal ... and vespertine Named for the church services, or were the church services named for the time of day? (In other words, which came first?)

[complete aside] They must be firing the big guns at Ft. Knox again. Maybe they got some new ones, or maybe the atmospheric conditions are carrying the reverberations more than usual. Last Sat. morning, our deck was vibrating to it...and Ft. Knox is thirty miles away. But I'm hearing the muffled booms, even now.
Posted By: wsieber Re: Active in the morning - 12/06/06 03:26 PM
denoting animals active in the morning (dawn) and evening (dusk) - conclusion: matinal is more specific for morning (of course this will not be the last word ).
Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: Active in the morning - 12/06/06 03:29 PM
Quote:

matinal ... and vespertine Named for the church services, or were the church services named for the time of day? (In other words, which came first?)






Latin was around before The Church, fwiw.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: Active in the morning - 12/06/06 03:31 PM
Quote:

denoting animals active in the morning (dawn) and evening (dusk) - conclusion: matinal is more specific for morning (of course this will not be the last word ).




of course. we should consider the poor animals which are active at both times. know any zo-ologists?

edit: "[A] well known crepuscular animal is the moose, which often comes out in early morning hours or late evening hours." - Wikipedia
Posted By: BranShea Re: Active in the morning - 12/06/06 04:48 PM
Well known matinal animal is the bird and he catches the worm too.
But there are birds that are early as well as late ,like the blackbird. He always takes a second round of the garden at and right after sundown. He sings, both at dawn and nightfall.I guess there are so many animals that are active both at crepuscule and at dawn. But matinal active or the right word for that, is that decided yet?
Posted By: zmjezhd Re: mourning activates - 12/06/06 04:58 PM
Does the Evening Star have the same sense as the Morning Star?

For what it's worth, the earlier meaning of twilight is for the period of inbetween light of both morning and evening. And what of dusk and gloaming?
Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: mourning language becomes no one - 12/06/06 07:25 PM
Quote:

And what of dusk and gloaming?




And then there's penumbra...

Maybe we should consider that English, pretty bastard that she is, might have more than one word to denote the same thing?
Posted By: BranShea Re: mourning language becomes no one - 12/07/06 10:35 AM
Quote:

And then there's penumbra...





A nice word too, penumbra , penombre, doesn't that rather mean half shadow?
So not directly attached to dawn or dusk ?
So at noon men and animals can hide from the sun in the penumbra , the half shadows.
Posted By: zmjezhd Re: mourning language - 12/07/06 02:41 PM
Latin paene 'almost': peninsula, penultimate, etc.
Posted By: BranShea Re: mourning language - 12/07/06 04:55 PM
Quick definitions (penumbra)
noun: a fringe region of partial shadow around an umbra

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin paene almost + umbra shadow -- more at UMBRAGE
1 a : a space of partial illumination (as in an eclipse) between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light b : a shaded region surrounding the dark central portion of a sunspot


2 : a surrounding or adjoining region in which something exists in a lesser degree : FRINGE
3 : a body of rights held to be guaranteed by implication in a civil constitution
4 : something that covers, surrounds, or obscures : SHROUD <a penumbra of secrecy> <a penumbra of somber dignity has descended over his reputation -- James Atlas>
- pen·um·bral /-br&l/ adjective
Posted By: Amicose Re: Active in the morning - 01/18/09 11:55 AM
Does anone know a term specific to the afternoon? There are a few desert reptiles principally active after desert sun passes its peak, heat, so there's certainly a use for it.

Matitudinal also occurs as a form of matutinal.
Posted By: zmjezhd Re: Active in the morning - 01/18/09 02:10 PM
Does anone know a term specific to the afternoon?

I couldn't find one, but as matutinal < Latin matutinalis < matutinus < Matuta 'goddess of the dawn', vespertine < vesper 'evening', diurnal < diurnalis < dies 'day', nocturnal < nocturnalis < nox, noctis, 'night', crepuscular < crepusculum 'dusk, twilight' < creper 'dusky, dark'. The Latin word for afternoon is pomeridianus or postmeridianus. So, how about pomeridianalar? (Also, the Latin word for afternoon meal is merenda. Maybe that could be used.)
Posted By: tsuwm Re: Active in the morning - 01/18/09 03:13 PM
pomeridian 1. literary. Of or relating to the hours after midday; belonging to the afternoon
2. Bot. Of the opening or closing of a flower, etc.: occurring in the afternoon. Obs. rare.
[OED online]

cf. postmeridian used as an adj.
Posted By: BranShea Re: Active in the morning - 01/18/09 04:09 PM
In Italian: pomeriggio - pomeridiano
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: Active in the morning - 01/18/09 05:49 PM
Originally Posted By: Amicose
Does anone know a term specific to the afternoon? There are a few desert reptiles principally active after desert sun passes its peak, heat, so there's certainly a use for it.

Matitudinal also occurs as a form of matutinal.



Apres-midi - French.
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