Word of the day: matutinal

The word of the day is matutinal:

Middle French, French matutinal (c1190 in Old French) and its etymon post-classical Latin matutinalis of the morning (5th cent. or earlier), of or relating to matins (c730 in a British source), (as noun) morning psalm or hymn (a543), book of lauds (mid 11th cent.), < classical Latin mātūtīnusmatutine adj. + -ālis-al suffix¹. In sense 2 perhaps after French matinal matinal adj.

Now chiefly literary.

1. Of or relating to the morning, esp. the period just after waking; occurring or performed early or in the morning.

2. Rising early; active or alert in the morning. (OED)

"Many of them sleep on, of course, careless of our cousin Aurora's charming matutinal trick, but there are always the insomniacs, the restless ill, the lovelorn tossing on their solitary beds, or just the early risers, the busy ones, with their knee-bends and their cold showers and their fussy little cups of black ambrosia."

 - John Banville, The Infinities, as quoted by Joanna Kavenna, "Pseudonymously Yours: The strange case of Benjamin Black", 11 & 18 July 2011 The New Yorker