nocturnal 復習

最近アメリカで不気味なピエロの目撃情報が増えています。特にジョージアで頻出しており、お金を使って子供達を森の中に誘い込もうとしているとのことです。

Creepy nocturnal clown sightings leave US police baffled

Dozens of reported sightings of lurking creepy clowns have been flooding US police stations this summer.

Children claim the clowns have tried to lure them into the woods using money.

Nocturnal clowns have been spotted in at least six states, most recently in Georgia where two young boys ran in fear of their lives while waiting for the morning school bus.

Police have warned that even if this simply is a prank, criminal charges may still be filed.

"We saw a man with all black on, clown mask, and a red wig," 12-year-old Cameron Frails told WRDW News.

In nearby Aiken County, South Carolina, a radio scanner picked up this bizarre police despatch:

"Subject dressed in a red and yellow suit with a clown mask through the woods. He also had a green laser light shining it through windows."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37365762

取り上げる単語は"nocturnal"です。

まずLDOCEで調べてみると、"animal that is nocturnal is active at night"や"happening at night"と表現されていました。
『ジーニアス英和辞典』第4版(大修館)で確認すると、「夜の、(動物が)夜行性の、(植物が)夜咲の」とありました。
因みにクラシックで有名な曲「ノクターン」"nocturne"には「夜想曲」「夜景画」という意味があります。(Akim)

diurnal - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20100826/1282823136