Meanings
comparative more noctilucent · superlative most noctilucent
- climatologyShining or glowing at night, especially of very high-altitude clouds that reflect sunlight long after sunset; nightshining.
[…] fireflies and other noctilucent insects.
1891, Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, volume 20, page 1281 more example
[…] the noctilucent or night-shining clouds that are occasionally observed at great altitudes when the observer looks northward in mid-summer.
1918, Wilder Dwight Bancroft, The Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 22, page 274
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveshining or glowing by night
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From nocti- + lucent.; compare obsolete noctilucous.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French noctiluque
- noctiluque(meteorology) glowing at night
Italian nottilucente
- nottilucente(meteorology) glowing at night
Japanese 夜光
- 夜光 (yakō)(meteorology) glowing at night
Spanish noctilucente
- noctilucente(meteorology) glowing at night
Welsh nosloyw
- nosloyw(meteorology) glowing at night
Cite this entry
noctilucent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noctilucent
“noctilucent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noctilucent. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “noctilucent,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noctilucent.
Source: noctilucent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.