nyctalope, n. and a.
(ˈnɪktələʊp)
[ad. Gr. νυκτάλωψ, -άλωπος nyctalops. Cf. F. and Pg. nyctalope, Sp. nictalope.]
A. n. One affected with nyctalopia.
Found only in the plural, which may be intended for the classical plural (nɪktəˈləʊpiːz) of nyctalops.
| 1601 Holland Pliny xxviii. xi, Since as be dim-sighted and see little or nothing toward night (whome the Greeks call Nyctalopes). 1754 Med. Observ. & Inq. (1776) I. xiii. 119 Of the Nyctalopes of the Ancients. 1764 W. India Dis. 61 Neither do any of the Nyctalopes complain of head-achs. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 114/2 In the 2nd book of his ‘Prædicta’, he [Hippocrates] says, ‘We call those nyctalopes who see by night’. |
B. adj. Having the power of seeing by night.
| 1847–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 219/1 This great development in a nyctalope animal is an interesting fact. |