Meanings
- formalliterarynot comparableOf, occurring in, or relating to the morning, especially the early morning upon waking up.
'Top 'o the mornin' to ye!' he called to Flory in a hearty matutinal voice, putting on an Irish accent.
1934, George Orwell, Burmese Days1 more example
1874, Henry James, "Professor Fargo" in The Galaxy 18(2) (August 1874): 233–253. [A] young lady was introduced who had come to request him to raise a ghost—a resolute young lady, with several ringlets and a huge ancestral umbrella, whose matutinal appetite for the supernatural had not been quenched by the raw autumnal storm.
Synonyms: matinal, matitudinal, matutinary, matutine
- formalliterarynot comparableActive in the morning; waking up early.
Pen, putting on his hat, strode forth into the air, and almost over the body of the matutinal housemaid, who was rubbing the steps at the door.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC1 more example
Certain other plants agree with certain other kinds of birds in being peculiarly matutinal. Go out as early as we will, we find the delicate white bells of the wild convolvulus in the dewy hedge, […] just as we are never too soon for the chaffinch, the blackbird, and the lark.
1866, Leo Hartley Grindon, Life, Its Nature, Varieties, & Phenomena, page 307
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf, occurring in, or relating to the morning, especially the early morning upon waking up.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*meh₂-“to mature, ripen; opportune, timely; good, great”
- Latinmātūtīnus“of, occurring in, or pertaining to the early morning, matutine”
- Late Latinmātūtīnālis“(adjective) belonging to the morning; of or pertaining to matins; (noun) morning hymn or psalm; book of lauds”
- Middle Frenchmatutinal
- Englishmatutinal
Borrowed from Middle French matutinal (modern French matutinal), and from its etymon Late Latin mātūtīnālis (“(adjective) belonging to the morning; of or pertaining to matins; (noun) morning hymn or psalm; book of lauds”), from Latin mātūtīnus (“of, occurring in, or pertaining to the early morning, matutine”) (from Mātūta (“Roman goddess of the dawn or morning”) (from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- (“to mature, ripen; opportune, timely; good, great”)) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The second sense (“active in the morning; waking up early”) is possibly modelled after French matinal (“relating to the morning, matinal”).
More words from Middle French, Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic صَبَاحِيّ
- صَبَاحِيّ (ṣabāḥiyy)of, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
Bulgarian утринен
- утринен (utrinen)of, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
Esperanto matena
- matenaof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
French matutinal
- matutinalof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
German morgendlich
- morgendlichof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
Irish maidiniúil, maidine
- maidiniúilof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
- maidineof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
Romanian matinal
- matinalof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
Russian у́тренний
- у́тренний (útrennij)of, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
Spanish matutino, mañanero
- matutinoof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
- mañaneroof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
- matinalof, occurring in, or relating to the early morning
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with matutinal
Anagrams
Cite this entry
matutinal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matutinal
“matutinal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matutinal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “matutinal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matutinal.
Source: matutinal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.