noctiluca

noun

noc·​ti·​lu·​ca

ˌnäktəˈlükə

1

plural -s, obsolete : phosphor sense 2

2

capitalized [New Latin, from Latin, moon] : a genus of marine plantlike flagellates (order Dinoflagellata) that are unusually large, complex in structure, and bioluminescent and that when present in numbers are responsible for much of the phosphorescence of the sea

3

plural noctilucas

-kəz

or noctilucae

-üˌsē

: any organism of the genus Noctiluca

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin, moon, lantern, from nocti- noct- + -luca, from lucēre to shine (noun)

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