nocti-
comb. form of L. nox, noctis, used in certain words, as nocˈtidial [L. dies day] a., comprising a night and a day. † ˈnoctifer [cf. L. noctifer evening star], a bringer of night or darkness. † nocˈtiferous a. (see quot.). noctiˈflorous a., Bot. night-flowering (Cassell 1886). noctiˈlucent a., shining by night; spec. in noctilucent cloud, a cloud of a kind occas. seen at night in summer in high latitudes, which occurs at a height of about 80 kilometres (at the mesopause) and which some authorities believe is composed purely of cosmic dust and others of ice condensed round cosmic dust particles; cf. mother-of-pearl cloud; so noctiˈlucid a. (Cent. Dict.). † nocˈtipotent a. (see quot.). Also noctiluca, noctivagant, etc.
| 1694 Holder On Time 98 The *Noctidial Day, the Lunar Periodic Month, and the Solar Year are Natural and Universal. 1884 Punch 1 Mar. 102 Farewell to noctidial sittings. |
| 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 140 Lest..he hurl you Lucifers out of the Heaven of your sinful felicity, and make you *Noctifers and Mortifers of misery and contempt. |
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., *Noctiferous.., that betokens or brings night, the evening Star. |
| 1890 Cent. Dict., *Noctilucent, shining by night or in the dark; noctilucid; as, the noctilucent eyes of a cat. 1910 W. L. Moore Descriptive Meteorol. xi. 198 Certain clouds that are seen about midnight in summer have for twenty years received considerable attention from Abbe and others..; sometimes they are called nacreous..at other times noctilucent, because they shine at night. 1936 N. Shaw Man. Meteorol. (ed. 2) ii. iii. 44 The lower type, known as Perlmutter or iridescent clouds, show brilliant prismatic colours and occur at heights between 20 and 30 kilometres. They differ from noctilucent clouds by appearing almost exclusively in winter. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 581/1 Noctilucent (Zool.), phosphorescent, light-producing. 1956 Nature 18 Feb. 308/1 The technique of observing noctilucent clouds has been improved recently. 1963 New Scientist 25 July 169/2 There has been considerable dispute in the past about whether the noctilucent clouds are composed of ice particles or dust particles. |
| 1678 Phillips 2nd Suppl., *Noctipotent, powerful in the night. |