noctilucine

N1O1C3T1I1L1U1C3I1N1E1

noun

A nitrogenous substance in fireflies, glowworms and marine animals, once believed to be responsible for their luminescence.

Scrabble 15
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounnoctilucine (uncountable)

alternative noctilucin

  1. uncountablebiochemistryA nitrogenous substance in fireflies, glowworms and marine animals, once believed to be responsible for their luminescence.

Origin

From Latin noctilūca (“firefly”) + -ine. Term coined by British scientist Thomas Lamb Phipson (1833–1908). It appeared first in his article On noctilucine, the phosphorescent principle of luminous animals, published in The chemical new, vol. 32, no. 832, on November 5, 1875.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French noctilucine
  • noctilucinesubstance once believed to be responsible for the bioluminescence
German Noctilucin
  • Noctilucinsubstance once believed to be responsible for the bioluminescence
Cite this entry
APA

noctilucine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noctilucine

MLA

“noctilucine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noctilucine. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “noctilucine,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noctilucine.

Source: noctilucine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.