#132 - Crepuscular

[mxcatmoon]

This week's word is

Crepuscular

[krəˈpəskyələr]


adjective

1. Of, resembling, or relating to twilight.

2. (of an animal) appearing or active in twilight (before sunrise or after sunset).
 "Many owls are nocturnal and some are crepuscular."

From Merriam-Webster:
 

Did you know?

The early Romans had two words for the twilight. Crepusculum was favored by Roman writers for the half-light of evening, just after the sun sets; diluculum was reserved for morning twilight, just before the sun rises—it is related to lucidus, meaning "bright." We didn't embrace either of these Latin nouns as substitutes for our word twilight, but we did form the adjective crepuscular in the 17th century. The word's zoological sense, relating to animals that are most active at twilight, developed in the 19th century.