Diurnal

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Diurnal \Di*ur"nal\, a. [L. diurnalis, fr. dies day. See
     {Deity}, and cf. {Journal}.]
     1. Relating to the daytime; belonging to the period of
        daylight, distinguished from the night; -- opposed to
        {nocturnal}; as, diurnal heat; diurnal hours.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. Daily; recurring every day; performed in a day; going
        through its changes in a day; constituting the measure of
        a day; as, a diurnal fever; a diurnal task; diurnal
        aberration, or diurnal parallax; the diurnal revolution of
        the earth.
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              Ere twice the horses of the sun shall bring
              Their fiery torcher his diurnal ring. --Shak.
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     3. (Bot.) Opening during the day, and closing at night; --
        said of flowers or leaves.
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     4. (Zool.) Active by day; -- applied especially to the eagles
        and hawks among raptorial birds, and to butterflies
        (Diurna) among insects.
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     {Diurnal aberration} (Anat.), the aberration of light arising
        from the effect of the earth's rotation upon the apparent
        direction of motion of light.
  
     {Diurnal arc}, the arc described by the sun during the
        daytime or while above the horizon; hence, the arc
        described by the moon or a star from rising to setting.
  
     {Diurnal circle}, the apparent circle described by a
        celestial body in consequence of the earth's rotation.
  
     {Diurnal motion of the earth}, the motion of the earth upon
        its axis which is described in twenty-four hours.
  
     {Diurnal motion of a heavenly body}, that apparent motion of
        the heavenly body which is due to the earth's diurnal
        motion.
  
     {Diurnal parallax}. See under {Parallax}.
  
     {Diurnal revolution of a planet}, the motion of the planet
        upon its own axis which constitutes one complete
        revolution.
  
     Syn: See {Daily}.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Diurnal \Di*ur"nal\, n. [Cf. F. diurnal a prayerbook. See
     {Diurnal}, a.]
     1. A daybook; a journal. [Obs.] --Tatler.
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     2. (R. C. Ch.) A small volume containing the daily service
        for the "little hours," viz., prime, tierce, sext, nones,
        vespers, and compline.
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     3. (Zool.) A diurnal bird or insect.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  diurnal
       adj 1: belonging to or active during the day; "diurnal animals are
              active during the day"; "diurnal flowers are open
              during the day and closed at night" [ant: {nocturnal}]
       2: having a daily cycle or occurring every day; "diurnal
          rhythms"; "diurnal rotation of the heavens"; "the diurnal
          slumber of bats"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  33 Moby Thesaurus words for "diurnal":
     annual, biannual, biennial, bimonthly, biweekly, catamenial,
     centenary, centennial, circadian, daily, daytime, decennial,
     everyday, fortnightly, hebdomadal, hourly, menstrual, momentary,
     momently, monthly, quarterly, quotidian, regular, secular,
     semestral, semiannual, semimonthly, semiweekly, semiyearly,
     tertian, triennial, weekly, yearly