What would be a "night owl" in Latin?

Question

On the recommendation of an esteemed Finnish member of our forum, I decided to ask how one would translate "night owl" into Latin.

night owl (noun)

a person who keeps late hours at night

I first checked Whitaker's words, and the only general word it gives for "owl" is cicuma, -ae. Unsurprisingly, there was no entry for "night owl" per se.

Thus my best guess would be phrases like "cicuma noctis" or "cicuma nocturna". But I also feel there is a good chance that this concept existed in ancient Rome, and had its own word or phrase.

Are there any attested examples of the concept of a "night owl"? If so, what word(s) did the author use? If not, what word(s) would you use?

Answer 1

The verb lucubrare means (OLD definition 1) 'To work by lamplight (i.e. late at night), "burn the midnight oil."' For example, Pliny uses this verb in letter 3.5 to talk about his uncle's work/study habits:

sed erat acre ingenium, incredibile stadium, summa vigilantia. lucubrare Vulcanalibus incipiebat non auspicandi causa sed studendi statim a nocte multa, hieme vero ab hora septima vel cum tardissime octava, saepe sexta.

_{Emphasis added}

There are several words derived from this verb: lucubratio, lucubratiuncula, and lucubratorius. Although lucubrator ('a person who works, studies, etc. late at night') isn't one of these, it's easy enough to derive it.

Answer 2

Seneca is your man. In Ep 122 he uses the word lychnobius: one who lives by lamplight.

I'll quote the passage in full, because it's so great.

Pedonem Albinovanum narrantem audieramus (erat autem fabulator elegantissimus) habitasse se supra domum Sex. Papini. Is erat ex hac turba lucifugarum. 'Audio' inquit 'circa horam tertiam noctis flagellorum sonum. Quaero quid faciat: dicitur rationes accipere. Audio circa horam sextam noctis clamorem concitatum. Quaero quid sit: dicitur vocem exercere. Quaero circa horam octavam noctis quid sibi ille sonus rotarum velit: gestari dicitur. Circa lucem discurritur, pueri vocantur, cellarii, coqui tumultuantur. Quaero quid sit: dicitur mulsum et halicam poposcisse, a balneo exisse. "Excedebat" inquit "huius diem cena." Minime; valde enim frugaliter vivebat; nihil consumebat nisi noctem.' Itaque Pedo dicentibus illum quibusdam avarum et sordidum 'vos' inquit 'illum et lychnobium dicetis'.

Answer 3

I suggest the word nocticola, which literally means "night-dweller". The entry in Lewis and Short describes it as "fond of the night" and gives one use example.

Unfortunately the word seems to be rare and I could not find any classical attestations. However, it is a very natural derivative — just like Ovid's monticola — so I have no doubt the Romans of the classical Latin would have no problem with the word. It just happens to be a "not-even-hapax" legomenon, so to say.

Perhaps there are other options out there as well. I would certainly like to learn more words to describe my sleep cycle…

Answer 4

Varro does mention a "night owl" (as in the bird), the noctua, which got its name:

quod noctu canit et vigilat

because it sings 'noctu' ('at night') and stays up overnight

On the Latin Language, 5.11.76

Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere that noctua was ever applied to a person to describe their habits.