night wanderern.
/ˈnʌɪt ˌwɒnd(ə)rə/, U.S. /ˈnaɪt ˌwɑnd(ə)rər/ A person who or thing which wanders at night; a night traveller.
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the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > one who brings or likes night or darkness
owlc1390
night-waker?c1475
nightbird1548
night wanderer1576
night owl1594
noctifer1667
night larka1770
nighthawk1868
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering > wandering at night > one who
night-waker?c1475
night wanderer1576
noctivagant1633
noctivagatora1645
1576 A. Fleming tr. J. Caius Of Eng. Dogges 25 Theefes, robbers, spoylers, and night wanderers.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 39 You..Misselead nightwanderers, laughing at their harme. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 640 A Flame, Which oft..Misleads th'amaz'd Night-wanderer from his way. View more context for this quotation
1723 E. Fenton Mariamne i. ii. 5 It strikes like lightning that with fear confounds The pale night-wanderer, whilst it shews the path.
1744 J. Warton Enthusiast 7 Love-sick Philomel, whose luscious Lays Sooth lone Night-wanderers.
1786 C. Smith Elegiac Sonnets (ed. 3) 33 Strange sounds are heard..As of night-wanderers, who their woes bewail!
1816 M. Holford Margaret of Anjou vii. 176 The blue and vagrant ray Which the night-wand'rer leads astray.
1844 W. B. Carpenter Pop. Cycl. Nat. Sci.: Zool.: Pt. I 193 There are few situations in the lower part of Java where this night wanderer is not constantly observed.
1879 E. Dowden Southey vii. 196 Will-o'-the-wisp, vague-shining theories that beguile night wanderers.
1938 Sci. Monthly Feb. 168/1 The rabbit nibbles green things amid the protective shadows. The hare too is furtive, a night wanderer.
1989 ‘C. Roman’ Foreplay v. 51 I'm noctivagant, a night wanderer, and I'm already getting itchy feet.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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