nyctalopia

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 21, 2009 is: nyctalopia • \nik-tuh-LOH-pee-uh\  • noun : reduced visual capacity in faint light (as at night) : night blindness Examples: Bernard suffers from progressive nyctalopia; as a result, he can no longer drive at night. Did you know? "Nyctalopia" comes to us from the Latin word "nyctalops," which means "suffering from night blindness." It is ultimately derived from the Greek word "nyktalops," which was formed by combining the word for "night" ("nyx") with the words for "blind" and "eye" ("alaos" and "ōps," respectively). English speakers have been using "nyctalopia" to refer to reduced vision in faint light or at night since the 17th century. We added the somewhat more pedestrian "night blindness" to the lexicon in the 18th century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.