matutinal adj : pertaining to or occurring in the morning; "took his matutinal walk"

English

Etymology

From mātūtīnālis, “belonging to the early morning”, from mātūtīnus, “of or pertaining to the morning” (from Mātūta, Roman goddess of the dawn + -īnus, “-ine”) + -ālis, “-al”.

Pronunciation

• /məˈtjutɪnəl/

Adjective

1. Of, occurring in, or relating to the early morning.

Quotations

References

Matutinal is a term used in the life sciences, to describe an organism that is only or primarily active in the pre-dawn hours or early morning. The variant term matinal is used apparently only in entomology, often used in literature on the natural history and ecology of bees. There are numerous genera and species of bees which exhibit this behavior, presumably to escape from competition for resources, and many flowers (e.g. squash and morning glory) have adapted to this particular pollination syndrome. (See also crepuscular.)

The etymology of the term is the latin word matutinum tempus (time of the morning).