Nyctalopia is a medical condition meaning poor night vision. Is there an equivalent single word meaning good night vision, either in medical or general parlance?
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When you ask about "good" eyesight in poor or dim light, do you mean "normal" vision or something which expresses a heightened or increased ability to see in the dark (night time) or in conditions of reduced light. Why does it have to be one word? The phenomenon might be expressed in more than one word.– Mari-Lou ACommented Jun 19, 2015 at 6:39
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@Mari-LouA. I was looking for one word because "good night vision" is a clumsy phrase to use repeatedly. I am trying to express the idea of a better than average ability for a human to see at night, without implying anything superhuman.– AlchymistCommented Jun 19, 2015 at 7:43
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8 Answers
Scotopia
noun: the ability of the eye to adjust for night vision - Collins
This might not be quite what you're looking for because it is just the ability to see "normally" in the dark, but perhaps you could do something with it?
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Maybe euscotopia should be a word? Not sure I can get away with that though. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 14:34
- the ability to see in reduced illumination (as in moonlight);
or night vision:
- is the ability to see in low light conditions. Whether by biological or technological means, night vision is made possible by a combination of two approaches: sufficient spectral range, and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night vision compared to many animals, in part because the human eye lacks a tapetum lucidum.(Wikipedia)
also : night-eyed:
- Capable of seeing at night; sharp-eyed. "Your night-eyed Tiberius." --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster]
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I like the poetry of night-eyed, although I see that every dictionary I can find refers back to the Webster definition which, in turn, seems to have only the one reference in Jonson. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 14:45
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Yes, but I thought it was worth mentioning.– user66974Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 14:52
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1@Alchymist OED gives three citations. 1605 B. Jonson Sejanus v. i. 363, "I dare tell you..That our Night-ey'd Tiberius doth not see His Minions driftes."; 1838 R. Southey Madoc ii. xxvi, in Poet. Wks. V. 376 "The night-eyed insect tribes Wake to their portion of the circling hours."; 1999 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 6 Mar. 7 b, "April 15 creeps up on us in the dark, staring like some kind of night-eyed beast.".– CalchasCommented Jun 18, 2015 at 21:00
Perhaps you could inject a word into common parlance. Since people who see well at a distance are eagle-eyed, people who see well at night should be owl-eyed,
answered Jun 18, 2015 at 17:06
Hyperscotopia? Scotopia is from the greek, as is hyper which is a common qualifying prefix in medical terminology.
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Welcome to the ELU :-). As this is a Q&A website, supporting your answer with authoritative references is strongly encouraged - please consider adding some to improve your answer. Thanks!– LuckyCommented Jun 18, 2015 at 23:57
Increased night vision
(colloquial) A person with the medical condition Systemic lupus erythematosus, colloquially known as vampirism, with effects such as photosensitivity, brownish-red stained teeth, and increased night vision. (wiktionary)
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I'm not sure vampirism has quite the connotations I was looking for but I like the idea. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 14:06
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1Incidentally, in this context "photosensitivity" means that your skin, not your eyes, is particularly sensitive to light. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 17:09
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The OP specifically asked for a single word, otherwise we could all suggest "heightened / enhanced / elevated / excellent night (nocturnal) vision" Commented Jun 19, 2015 at 6:13
Hemeralopia might be somewhat the word you are looking for:
a condition of the eyes in which the sufferer can see clearly at night but has impaired vision during the day; day blindness.
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2the OP is looking for good night vision, not bad day vision.– MarganaCommented Jun 18, 2015 at 8:53
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3I know, but he asked for a good night vision, and this condition implies it. Just that it goes with bad day vision as well.– JaroCommented Jun 18, 2015 at 10:14
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Hemeralopia implies normal night vision with reduced day vision. Confusingly, it has also been used for night blindness in some circumstances, as ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1857511 discusses. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 14:04
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@emanen - no arguments that hemeralopia should mean day blindness. The distinction has caused confusion in the past, however. Commented Jun 19, 2015 at 8:33
Plain night vision would be nycteropia. If you want to coin a word, I would suggest:
nycteroptasia
This means something similar, night-seeing, night-appearing, night-illuminating. It is stronger than -opia, so it probably a good way to convey the basic idea.
answered Jun 18, 2015 at 18:12
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1Per every online eymology source I can find, nyctalopia is actually formed from nykt- (from nyx) meaning night, alaos meaning blind, and ops meaning eye. So that would in fact specifically mean lack of night vision, night-blindness. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 18:40
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@recognizer Thanks for pointing that out, the subtleties of medical word formation. I have adjusted my answer appropriately. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 18:47
- belonging to or active during the night;
- of or relating to or occurring in the night;
This doesn't strictly mean good eye sight at night, but it could be implied depending on context.
