NOCTURNAL

~Of, relating to, or occurring in the night: nocturnal stillness. Botany. Having flowers that open during the night. Zoology. Most active at night: nocturnal animals.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin nocturnlis, from Latin nocturnus, from nox, noct-, night. See nekw-t- in Indo-European Roots.]

DIRGE

~Music. A funeral hymn or lament. A slow, mournful musical composition. A mournful or elegiac poem or other literary work. Roman Catholic Church. The Office of the Dead.

[Middle English, an antiphon at Matins in the Office of the Dead, from Medieval Latin drige Domine, direct, O Lord (the opening words of the antiphon), imperative of drigere, to direct. See direct.]