Word of the Day

: July 5, 2009

diurnal

adjective dye-ER-nul

What It Means

1 : recurring every day

2 : of, relating to, or occurring in the daytime

diurnal in Context

"I like walking early mornings when the nocturnal wildlife quietly withdraws as the diurnal wildlife noisily rouses for another day." (Kevin J. Cook, Fort Collins Coloradoan, June 29, 2008)

Did You Know?

Can you guess which of the following words have the same Latin root as our word du jour, "diurnal"?

A. journey B. dial C. quotidian D. diary E. meridian F. journal G. circadian H. daily

The answer: all of them except "daily" (it's from Old English, not Latin). "Diurnal" and all of the other terms in our little quiz (and "du jour," too) come ultimately from "dies," the Latin word for "day."