diurnal

(dī-ûr'nəl)
adj.

1. Relating to or occurring in a 24-hour period; daily.
2. Occurring or active during the daytime rather than at night: diurnal animals.
3. Botany. Opening during daylight hours and closing at night.

n.

1. A book containing all the offices for the daily canonical hours of prayer except matins.
2. Archaic.
   1. A diary or journal.
   2. A daily newspaper.

[Middle English, from Late Latin diurnālis, from Latin diurnus, from diēs, day.]

diurnally di·ur'nal·ly adv.

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is not an ordinary synonym of daily but has special technical meanings (especially in medicine and the life sciences) opposed to nocturnal:

During the last two hundred years, the European continent has seen a period of intensifying persecution of the diurnal birds of prey—M. Bijleveld, 1974.

In general contexts, diurnal has a quasi-humorous effect, as with many technical words used in this way:

For at least 10,000 years the human race has, at regular and officially sanctioned intervals, abandoned the hard diurnal grind of work and taken to the streets—Guardian, 2007.

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Daily. Diurnal motion is the apparent daily motion of celestial bodies across the sky from east to west, including the rising and setting of the Sun, caused by Earth's rotation. A diurnal circle is the apparent curving track of a celestial object relative to the horizon. For diurnal aberration see aberration of starlight, for diurnal libration see libration, and for diurnal parallax see parallax.

1) recurring every day; having a daily cycle
2) occurring in the daytime

A term used to describe a flower that opens only during the daytime.

IN BRIEF: Everyday. Also: Relating to daylight.

The diurnal sun sets at night, but the sun of the heart never disappears. — Abd al-Kader (1807-1883), Arab mystic.

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1. occurring during the day.
2. repeating every day; having a periodicity of approximately 24 hours. Compare circadian.

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Pertaining to or occurring during the daytime, or period of light.

(dī-ur′nəl)
adj

Relating to or happening in the daytime or portion of the day which is light.

For a list of words related to diurnal, see:

• Fixed Times - diurnal: (adj) daily

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See words rhyming with "diurnal."

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - daglig, dagåben, dag-, døgn-
n. - dagbog, journal

Nederlands (Dutch)
plaatsvindend overdag, dag-, dagelijks, in één dag

Français (French)
adj. - (Astron, Bot) diurne
n. - (Relig) diurnal

Deutsch (German)
adj. - Tages-, täglich
n. - Diurnal (Gebetbuch)

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - ημερήσιος
n. - (θρησκ.) ωρολόγιον

Italiano (Italian)
diurno

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - diurno, diário
n. - diário (m)

Русский (Russian)
ежедневный, дневной

Español (Spanish)
adj. - diurno
n. - diurno

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - daglig
n. - dags-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
每日的, 白天的, 一日间的, 日报, 日刊

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 每日的, 白天的, 一日間的
n. - 日報, 日刊

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 주간의, 날마다의
n. - 주간, 주행성

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 日中聖務日課書
adj. - 昼間の, 日中の, 昼行性の, 日ごとの, 日周的な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) فعال خلال النهار ( صفه لحيوان), يومي, نهاري (الاسم) مفكرة, دفتر يوميات‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮יומי, של היום, של כל יום‬
n. - ‮ספר של תפילות הנאמרות ביום‬

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