Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Night-blindness.
- noun Day-blindness.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A disease of the eye, in consequence of which the patient can see well in a faint light or at twilight, but is unable to see during the day or in a strong light; day blindness.
- noun See
moonblink .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun medicine The inability to see clearly in dim light;
night blindness
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun inability to see clearly in dim light; due to a deficiency of vitamin A or to a retinal disorder
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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His nyctalopia was a great advantage, his cat-like sight enabling him to distinguish the smallest object in the deepest gloom.
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His nyctalopia was a great advantage, his cat-like sight enabling him to distinguish the smallest object in the deepest gloom.
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“Confound the nyctalopia!” said Paganel, inwardly, though delighted to be of any service to his friend.
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Cataract attacks the blue-eyed more, but what is called ‘nyctalopia’ the dark-eyed.
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A. Day: nyctalopia (nik-tuh-LO-pee-uh) noun: Night blindness: a condition in which vision is faint or completely lost at night or in dim light.
nspblues Diary Entry nspblues 2002
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_Government_, offer to it, to discover the remedy for nyctalopia, 335.
An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa Abd Salam Shabeeny
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Hippocratic writings mention amblyopia, nyctalopia, and glaucoma.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 10: Mass Music-Newman 1840-1916 1913
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"Confound the nyctalopia!" said Paganel, inwardly, though delighted to be of any service to his friend.
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Dect philips phone unentitled twofold bibliotics unresisting to otterhound solemnity, i scaphoid to balfour how to nyctalopia the fearsome error that were one of the pampas executability of his compare.
Rational Review 2009
qms commented on the word nyctalopia
Today's Word of the Day is a seriously conflicted item. The definitions and examples provided support its use to mean
1. night blindness
2. day blindness
3. especially keen vision in low light
The OED confirms this multiplicity of uses, including among its examples the following:
"1684 tr. S. Blankaart Physical Dict. 208 Nyctalopia is two-fold: the first is a Dimness of Sight in the Night..: The other is a Dimness in the Light, and clear Sight in the Night, or in Shades."
To add to the confusion see the definition offered by The Century for hemeralopia:
"n. In pathology, a defect of sight in consequence of which distinct vision is possible only in artificial or dim light; day-blindness. The term is also used, however, to express exactly the opposite defect of vision. See nyctalopia."
Versatility is a useful quality in many things but not so much in words.
Also, all the links to the Jules Verne novel “In Search of the Castaways” in the usage examples fail. Here is a working link to the book at the Gutenberg Project: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2083
Low clouds the sun's set alight
I saw once as dawn growing bright.
As grim nyctalopia
Turns everything taupier
I now see the falling of night.
March 25, 2016