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# diurnal

adjective (diurnal)

«diurnal» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (science) Active during the day and resting at night, like most birds, butterflies and humans. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#m1)
2. (science) Happening every day, or during the day: «diurnal temperature changes». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science lessons animals are sorted into diurnal (day-active), nocturnal (night-active) and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk). In geography, «diurnal range» is the difference between the highest and lowest temperature in one day. Phrases: «diurnal animals», «diurnal range», «diurnal cycle».

### Examples

- Squirrels are diurnal, but owls are nocturnal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#x1)
- Humans are diurnal animals. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#x2)
- Most butterflies are diurnal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#x3)
- The desert has a large diurnal temperature range. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#x4)
- The kookaburra is diurnal and laughs at dawn. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#x5)
- (science) The diurnal cycle of light and dark controls when flowers open. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/#x6)

### Note

Opposite: «nocturnal». Pronounced «dye-ER-nal». In maths and geography: if the hottest temperature today is 31 °C and the coldest 12 °C, the diurnal range is 31 − 12 = 19 degrees.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «diurnal» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diurnal/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«diurnal» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/diurnal.html) on Mova free.