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Nocturnal vs Nighttime - What's the difference?

nocturnal | nighttime |

As adjectives the difference between nocturnal and nighttime

is that nocturnal is primarily active during the night while nighttime is pertaining to nighttime; appropriate to the night.

As a noun nighttime is

the hours of darkness between sunset and sunrise; the night.

nocturnal

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Primarily active during the night.
  • (of an occurrence) Taking place at night.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-01-01
    • , author=Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore , title=Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight , volume=101, issue=1, page=47–48 , magazine= citation , passage=Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported […] that pine siskins (Spinus pinus ) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.}}

    Antonyms

    * diurnal

    Coordinate terms

    * crepuscular

    nighttime

    English

    Alternative forms

    * night-time

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The hours of darkness between sunset and sunrise; the night.

    • Synonyms

    * night

    Antonyms

    * day * daytime

    Derived terms

    * night-times

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Pertaining to nighttime; appropriate to the night.
  • Happening during the night.

    • Synonyms

    * (pertaining to nighttime ): night * (happening during the night ): night

    Antonyms

    * (pertaining to nighttime ): day, daytime