| 释义 |
nocturnal, a. and n.|nɒkˈtɜːnəl|
[ad. late L. nocturnāl-is, f. nocturnus (see prec.), f. noct-, nox night. Cf. obs. F. nocturnal, -nel.]
A. adj.
1. Of or pertaining to the night; done, held, or occurring by night; etc. nocturnal arc: (see quot. 1704 and arc n. 2).
1485Caxton St. Wenefryde 20, I shold haue begonne my nocturnal offyce. 1537Latimer Serm. Convocation E j, The solempne and nocturnal bacchanals. 1599A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 4/2 When you intende to take your nocturnalle rest. 1602Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 34 To see if the nocturnall court delights Could force me envie their felicitie. 1634Milton Comus 128 Hail Goddesse of Nocturnal sport Dark vaild Cotytto. a1691Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 32 He observed the nocturnal air to be very damp. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Nocturnal Ark, is that Space in the Heavens which the Sun, Moon, or Stars, run thro' from their Rising to their Setting. 1759Johnson Idler No. 49 ⁋11 In this dismal gloom of nocturnal peregrination. 1792Cowper Let. to W. Hayley 29 July, I have told you something of my nocturnal experiences. 1835Thirlwall Hist. Greece ix. I. 349 The victim of a nocturnal sacrifice to the powers below. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 12 A nocturnal council is instituted for the preservation of the state.
b. nocturnal emission: involuntary ejaculation of sperm during sleep.
1821J. Wilson Lect. Struct. & Dis. Male Urinary & Genital Organs xv. 424 He had experienced repeated erections, attended with nocturnal emissions. 1928H. B. English Student's Dict. Psychol. Terms, Nocturnal emissions, loss of semen during sleep. 1948A. C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior Human Male xv. 516 In the male, nocturnal emissions or wet dreams are generally accepted as a usual part of the sexual picture. 1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 47/1 The [sexual] ‘outlets’ are..‘nocturnal emission’, [etc.]. 1958M. Argyle Relig. Behaviour x. 123 Nocturnal emissions for Kinsey's devout males were insignificantly more frequent, for his devout females sex dreams to the point of orgasm were less frequent.
2. Zool.
a. Active during the night.
1726Pope Odyss. xxiv. 10 Some rifted den, Where flock nocturnal bats, and birds obscene. 1768Pennant Brit. Zool. I. 107 The hedge hog is a nocturnal animal. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 38 This tribe of insects has therefore been divided into Diurnal and Nocturnal Flies. 1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxxv. III. 639 In the Crepuscular and Nocturnal Lepidoptera this fold..is very slight. 1849Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia IV. 15 In their habits they are nocturnal. 1870Nicholson Man. Zool. (1875) 548 The Nocturnal Birds of Prey, which..have the eyes directed forward.
b. Capable of vision by night.
1840Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 62 The Dourocouli..only differ from the Sagouins by their great nocturnal eyes.
3. Mus. Of the nature of a nocturne.
1896Peterson's Mag. Jan. 43/2 There is a nocturnal symphony between the first and second acts.
B. n.
†1. A night-piece. Obs. rare—1.
a1631Donne (title), A Nocturnal upon St. Lucy's Day, being the shortest day.
2. An astronomical instrument adapted for taking observations by which to ascertain the hour of the night, etc.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 65 An Astrolabe, a Nocturnal. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. 46 A Nocturnal so ordered, that it shall give you the Hour of the Night by the North-Star.., whereby you may take the true Declination. 1690Leybourn Curs. Math. 617 There are several sorts of Nocturnals, of which some are Projections of the Sphere. a1748Watts Geogr. & Astron. §20 (1760) 206 The Instrument called a Nocturnal, wherein the most remarkable Stars are fixed in their proper Degrees of Declination and Right Ascension. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Alidade, the index of a nocturnal or sea⁓quadrant. 1884Chamb. Jrnl. 1 Nov. 695/1 Astrolabes, nocturnals, and other astronomical instruments..are largely represented.
†3. A night-service; a nocturn. Obs. rare—1.
1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 91 All the Fryeries..say the Offices for the dead, and cause a Nocturnal to be rehearsed.
4. A night-walker; a night-hag.
1693Tate in Dryden's Juvenal (1697) 32 Such vile Practices..As makes our Matrons lewd, Nocturnals chast. 1823Spirit Public Jrnls. 40 Amongst a group of nocturnals, from St. Martin's watch-house. 1861T. L. Peacock Gryll G. xxxiv, We implored the nocturnals to keep themselves to themselves, while we were returning from supper.
5. pl.
a. The nocturnal birds of prey; the night-owls.
b. The nocturnal Lepidoptera; the moths.
1842Brande Dict. Sci., etc.
Hence nocˈturnally adv. (Webster 1847). |