nyctophile

plural nyctophiles

1. Someone who loves the night or darkness.

   He reads—he writes—late into the night. It's his way. He's a night person. A 'nyctophile' he calls himself.

   1973, Garson Kanin, A Thousand Summers, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 17

   2 more examples

   Altogether, these four varieties of nyctophiles chewed great hunks out of my sleeping time, and accounted for many of my less charitable thoughts, during the hours that the "general populace" was enjoying restful "shut-eye"'.

   2000, Brad Houston, Too Young to Die, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 224

   Britain will not see a total solar eclipse until September 23, 2090, but there are a plethora of partial eclipses in the meantime to keep nyctophiles content.

   2017 August 7, “When is the next full solar eclipse in the UK?”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Jan 2023

   Synonyms: nyctophiliac · Antonyms: nyctophobe

2. archaicbiologyAny of the Australian bats of the genus Nyctophilus.

   Case 25. The Nycteres of Africa, and the Petalias of Java; the Nyctophiles of Australia; the Barbastelles and long-eared bats of Europe; and the true bat and Scotophiles, which are scattered over different parts of the world, and the Lasiures of America.

   1843, Synopsis, or Guide Book to the British Museum, London: George Woodfall and Son, page 29