nocturn 
night, iioctii, by night : sec ni/ihl. (X. tliur,~\ 
I.t ". Of the nV'lit ; nightly, .lin-n-n L'iu-l,. 
II. H. 1. In the enrli/ I'liristian eh., one of 
several services recited at midnight or between 
midnight anil dawn, and consist ing chiefly of 
psalms and prayers. Later, in both the Greek ami 
Latin churches, these were said Just before daybreak, as 
one service, including lint]] matins and laudH. In the K- 
in:ui Catholic church, mating consist sometimes of only 
.M> iiMctnni, uiul sometimes of three. Hee matin, 2. 
2. The part of the psalter used at nocturns, or 
1 lie division used at each nocturn. 3. Same as 
i', I. 
Nocturna (nok-ter'nft), . pi. [NL., neut. pi. 
"I' L. niM-turnus, pertaining to night, of tne 
night: see nocturn.] In Latreille's system of 
classification, the nocturnal lepidopters proper, 
or the moths corresponding to the Lmnean 
genus Phahena, or to the modern I^pidoptera 
In tt rocera exclusive of the sphinxes and zygse- 
nids (or I 'rinn.ie.iilaria). The group was divided Into 
six sections, Bombycites, Soctito-Binnbitciteii, Noctittrlitcx, 
Ptuilfcnitfn, Pyraliiea, and Pterophorite*. 
Nqcturnae (nok-ter'ne), n. pi. [NL., fern. pi. 
of L. nocturnit-s, pertaining to night: see noe- 
tiirn.] A section of raptorial birds, including 
but one family, the Strigidit, or owls: con- 
trasted with IHnriia:. 
nocturnal (nok-tor'nal), a. [= Sp. nocturnal, 
< LL. iiocturnalis, < IJ. nocturntu, of the night: 
see nocturn. Ct. diurnal.] 1. Of or pertaining 
to the night; belonging to the night; used, 
done, or occurring at night : as, nocturnal cold ; 
a nocturnal visit : opposed to diurnal. 
The virtuous Youth, of this Commission glad, 
Thought the nocturnal hours all clogg'd with lead. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, L 124. 
2. Of or pertaining to a nocturn. 3. In zool., 
active by night: as, nocturnal lepidopter. Noc- 
turnal arc. See oi. Nocturnal birds of prey, the 
owls. See Nocturnal. Nocturnal cognition*, dial, etc. 
See the nouns. Nocturnal flowers, flowers which open 
only in the night or twilight. Nocturnal Lepidoptera, 
moths. See A'ocd/rna. Nocturnal sight. Same as day- 
blindness. =Syn. 1 and 3. See nightly. 
nocturnally (nok-ter'nal-i), adv. By night; 
nightly. 
nocturne (nok'tern), n. [Also nocturn; < F. noc- 
turne = Pr. nocturn = Sp. Pg. nocturno = It. not- 
turnoj < L. nocturnus, of the night : see nocturn.] 
1. In )>niti)i<i. a night-piece; a painting exhib- 
iting some of the characteristic effects of night- 
light. 
The illumination of a nocturne differs In no respect from 
that of a day scene. Quarterly Rev. , CXX VII. 111. 
2. In music, a composition, properly instru- 
mental, which is intended to embody the 
dreamy sentiments appropriate to the evening 
or the night; a pensive and sentimental mel- 
ody; a reverie ; a serenade. The style of compo- 
sition and the term are peculiar to the romantic 
school. Also notturno. 
nocturnograph (nok-ter'no-graf), n. [< L. 
iiiii'tiirnus, of the night, + Gr. ypfyetv, write.] 
An instrument employed in factories, mines, 
etc., for recording events occurring in the 
night, such as the firing of boilers, opening 
and shutting of gates and doors, times of be- 
ginning or ending certain operations, etc., or 
as a check upon the performance of duty by 
watchmen or operatives left in charge of work. 
The Knijiiii'i-r. LXV. 207. 
Nocua (nok'u-ii), n. pi. [NL., neut. pi. of L. 
mien UK, noxious: see nocuous.] Nocuous ser- 
pents as a division of Ophidia: contrasted with 
liinocuti: Also called Tlianatopliidia. 
nocumentt (nok'u-ment), n. [< ML. nociinnii- 
tiim,< L. nocere, harm, hurt: aeenocent. Forthe 
form, cf. document.] Harm; injury. Bp. Bale 
That he hfraselfe had no power to auert or alter, not to 
speake of his enigmatical! answers, snares, not Instruc- 
tions, nocttinrnlK, not documents vnto him. 
Punhat, Pilgrimage, p. 330. 
nocuous (nok'u-us), a. [= It. HOCUO, < L. no- 
ciin.t, injurious, noxious, < nocere, harm, hurt: 
see iini; nt.] 1. Noxious ; hurtful. 
Though the basilisk be a nocuoux creature. 
6'iniH, Speculum Mundt, p. 487: 
2. Specifically, venomous or poisonous, as a 
serpent; thanatophidian; of or pertaining to 
the Xiii'iiii. 
nocuously (nok'u-us-li), adr. In a nocuous 
manner: hurtfully; injuriously. 
nod (nod), r. : pret, and pj>. noddtd, ppr. noil- 
'lini/. [< ME. noilden (not in AS.); cf. G. dial. 
freq. nottihi. shako, wf{, jog, akin to OHG. 
hiioton, minion, shako. Hence nidnod. The 
root seen in Ij.*iiiieiT(p\i.*niitit.<), nod (in comp. 
abnuere, etc.), is nppar. unrelated : see nutant.] 
252 
4005 
1. iiitraim. 1. To incline or droop the head for- 
ward with a short, quick, involuntary motion, 
as when drowsy or sleepy ; specifically, in hot., 
to droop or curve downward ny a short bend in 
the peduncle : said of flowers. See inn/i/in : /. /i. a. 
It Is but dull business for a lonesome elderly man like 
me to be noddiny, by the hour together, with no company 
bat his air-tight stove. Uawtlunrtif, Seven Gables, iv. 
2. Figuratively, to be guilty of a lapse or inad- 
vertence, as when nodding with drowsiness. 
Nor Is It Homer nodi, but we that dream. 
Pope, Easay on Criticism, I. 180. 
Scientific reason, like Homer, sometimes mult. 
Huxley, Nineteenth Century, XXI. 196. 
3. To salute, beckon, or express assent by a 
slight, quick inclination of tne head. 
Cassius Is 
A wretched creaUire, and must bend his body 
If Ctesar carelessly but nod on him. 
Shak., J. C., I. 2. 118. 
Nod to bun, elvet, and do htm courtesies. 
Shak., M. N. D., lit 1. 177. 
4. To bend or incline the top or part corre- 
sponding to the head with a quick jerky motion, 
simulating the nodding of a drowsy person. 
Sometime we see a ... blue promontory 
With trees upon 't, that nod unto the world, 
And mock our eyes with air. 
Shak., A. and C., Iv. 14. 6. 
Th' affrighted hills from their foundations nod, 
And blaze beneath the lightnings of the god. 
Pope, Iliad, rvii. 07:!. 
Green hazels o'er his basnet nod. Scott, L. of L. M., 1. 25. 
II. trans. 1. To incline or bend, as the head 
or top. 2. To signify by a nod: as, to nod as- 
sent. 
Craggy Cliffs, that strike the Sight with Pain, 
And nod Impending Terrors o'er the Plain. 
Congrent, Taking of Namure. 
3. To affect by a nod or nods in a manner ex- 
pressed by a word or words connected : as, to 
nod one out of the room ; to nod one's head off. 
Cleopatra 
Hath nodded him to her. 
Shak., A. and P., Hi. (1.60. 
nod (nod), n. [< norf. t>.] 1 . A short, quick, for- 
ward and downward motion of the head, either 
voluntary, as when used as a familiar saluta- 
tion, a sign of assent or approbation, or given 
as a signal, command, etc., or involuntary, as 
when one is drowsy or sleepy. 
They sometimes, from the private node and ambiguous 
orders of their prince, perform some odious or execrable 
action. Bacon, Political Fables, vi., Expl. 
A look or a nod only ought to correct them, when they 
do amiss. Locke, Education, 77. 
A mighty King I am, an earthly God ; 
Nations obey my Word, and wait my Jfod. 
Prior, Solomon, ii. 
With a nod of Ms handsome head and a shake of the 
reins on black Bob, he is gone. 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 292. 
2. A quick forward or downward inclination of 
the upper part or top of anything. 
Like a drunken sailor on a mast. 
Ready, with every nod, to tumble down. 
Shak., Rich. III., ill. 4. 102. 
The land Of nod, the state of sleep : a humorous allusion 
to "the land of Nod on the east of Eden" (lien. IT. HO. 
[Colloq.] 
Noda (no'dft), M. [NL. (Sehellenberg, 1803), < 
Gr. vu66f, toothless, < vi?- priv. + odorf = E. 
tooth.] In entom.: (a) Same as Pnora. (V) A 
wide-spread and important genus of Chrysome- 
lidte, characterized by the shape of the sciitel- 
luin, which is as broad as it is long and very 
obtuse, becoming almost circular. 
nodal (no'dal), a. [< node + -at.] Pertaining 
to a node or to nodes; nodated. Nodal cell, in 
the rimrarnr, the lowest of an axile row of three cells of 
which the oogonium, at an early stage of its development 
noddle 
and fertilization, consists.- Nodal cone, the tangent rone 
of a surface, at a node. Nodal curve, In will,.. LOW*) 
upon a surface, upon w lii.-h < Hrvi < v> iv section of the sur- 
face has a node, so that the surface has more than one tan- 
Ki-Mt plum- ;il cvrl \ JM.JMt of 111. nodal i-UM < ; ;i CUrVC along 
which the surface cuts itself. Nodal figure, a curve form- 
ed by the nodal 
lines of a plate. 
Nodal lines, 
line* of absolute 
or comparative 
rest which exist 
on the surface 
of an elastic 
body, as a plate 
or HHMnlimne, 
whose pitrts are 
In a state of vi- 
Nodal I 
bration. Their existence is shown by sprinkling ssnd on 
the vibrating jilnte. during iln motion the sand Is thrown 
of! the vibrating parts and accumulates in the nodal lines. 
The figures thus produced were discovered and stu.li> <l 
by rhladnt, and are hence called CMailni'* Jtgvrei; they 
are always highly symmetrical, and the variety, according 
to the shape of the plate, the way It Is supported and set 
vibrating, etc., Is very great. Nodal locus. See locut. 
Nodal points, those points In a vibrating body (as a string 
*:..-., 
Nodal Cell. Vertical sections of dcvelopn^ carpogonium of Sitetla 
Jtfxijis, at different stages. 
I. Very early stage: a, supporting cell; *, nodal cell; <, central 
cell; rt, if, rudiment try enveloping cells, z. Later stage (letters as 
above) In fig. 2 the enveloping cells rf, rf have almost completely 
inclosed the central cell f. 
Vibrating String, with node}, at N, A". .V", .ind loopsat /., L' t L". L'". 
extended between two fixed objects) which remain at ab- 
-olnte or comparative rest during the vibration, the por- 
tions lying between the nodes being called loop*. 
nodated (no'da-ted), a. [< L. nodatus, pp. of 
nodare, fill with knots, tie in knots, < nodus, a 
knot: see node, knot 1 .] Knotted Nodated hy- 
perbola, in acorn., a hyperbola of the third or a higher or- 
der with a node. 
nodation (no-da'shon), n. [< L. norfarto(w-), 
kn ot t i n ess, < nodare, fill with knots, tie in knots : 
see nodate.] The act of making a knot ; the state 
of being knotted. [Rare.] 
noddaryt, [Appar. for 'noddcry, < nod (or 
noddy *) + -ery.] Foolishness. [Rare.] 
Peoples prostrations of {civil liberties!. . . . when they 
may lawfully helpe it, are prophane prostitutions; ignorant 
Ideottismes, under natural! noddariei. 
K. Ward, Simple Cobler, p. 51. 
noddent (nod'n), a, [Irreg. < nod + -en 1 ; prop. 
nodded.] Bent; inclined. 
They neither plough nor sow ; ne, nt for flail. 
E'er to the barn the nodden sheaves they drove. 
Thouimn, Castle of Indolence, L 10. 
nodder (nod'er), n. [< nod + -er*.] One who 
nods, in any sense of that word. 
A set of nodden, winkers, and whisperers. Pope. 
nodding (nod'ing), n. [Verbal n. of nod, r.] 
The act of one who nods : also used attributive- 
ly: as, a nodding acquaintance (an acquain- 
tance involving no recognition other than a 
nod). 
I have met him out at dinner, and have a nodding ac- 
quaintance with him. K. Yale*, Castaway, II. 274. 
nodding (nod'ing), p. a. Having a drooping 
position ; bending with a quick motion : as, a 
nodding plume; specifically, in hot., having a 
short bend in the peduncle below the flower, 
causing the latter to face downward ; cernuous. 
noddingly (nod'ing-li), adr. In a nodding man- 
ner; with a nod or nods. 
noddipollt, n. See noddy-poll. 
noddle 1 (nod'l), n. [< ME. nodle, nodyl, prob. for 
orig. "knoddel, dim. of *knod = MD. knodde, a 
knot, knob, D. knod, a club, cudgel, = G. leno- 
ten, a knot, knob: see knot 1 . Cf. knob = nob 1 , 
the head.] If. The back part of the head or 
neck; also, the cerebellum. 
Of that which ordelneth dooe precede Imagtnaclon In 
the forhede, Reason In the braine, Remembrance In the 
nodel. Sir T. Elyot. 
After that fasten cupping glasses to the noddle of the 
necke. Barrough'i MeUwd o/ Phytick (1624). (Sara.) 
Occasion . . . turneth a bald noddle after she hath pre- 
sented her locks in front, and no hold taken. 
Bacon, Delays (ed. 1887). 
2. The head. 
I could tell you how, not long before her Death, the late 
Queen of Spain took off one of her Chaplnes, and clowted 
Olivares about the Saddle with It. HomU, Letters, II. 48. 
Come, master, I have a project In my noddle. 
Sir K. L'Ettnnge. 
These reflections, in the writers of the transactions of 
the times, seize the noddle* of such as were not born to have 
thought* of their own. Sterle, Taller. No. 178. 
noddle 2 (nod'l), r. ; pret. and pp. noddled, ppr. 
[Froq. and dim. form of nod. . 
illt . } I. iiilrnn.t. To make light and 
frequent nods. 
He walked splay, stooping and noddling. 
Koyer Sorth, Lord Gnllford, I. 1S4. (Dane*.) 
