Meanings
plural lychnobites
- rareA person who works or labors at night and sleeps during the day.
Before the enfeebled of the dull-eyed lychnobite of the press could succumb to its influence, the cheerful voice of the magician awoke him.
1887 November 5, Observer Journal (Dunkirk, New York)1 more example
[…] he has listened as a pretended accomplice while sinister lychnobites laid plans over a low back bar-room table for outlaw depredations involving theft and manslaughter.
1924, John Chipman Farrar, The Literary Spotlight, page 192
Origin
- Ancient Greekλυχνόβιος“living by lamplight”
- Englishlychnobite
From Ancient Greek λυχνόβιος (lukhnóbios, “living by lamplight”), from λύχνος (lúkhnos, “lamp”) + βίος (bíos, “life”); ending analogical to cenobite.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lychnobite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lychnobite
“lychnobite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lychnobite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lychnobite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lychnobite.
Source: lychnobite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.