nyctophiles

Noun

nyctophile (plural nyctophiles)

1. Someone who loves the night or darkness.
   • He reads—he writes—late into the night. It's his way. He's a night person. A 'nyctophile' he calls himself.1973, Garson Kanin, A Thousand Summers, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 17

   Synonyms:

   nyctophiliac

   Antonyms:

   nyctophobe

2. (archaic) Any of the Australian bats of the genus Nyctophilus.
   • Case 25. The Nycteres of Africa, and the Petalias of Java; the Nyctophiles of Australia; the Barbastelles and long-eared bats of Europe; and the true bat and Scotophiles, which are scattered over different parts of the world, and the Lasiures of America.1843, Synopsis, or Guide Book to the British Museum, London: George Woodfall and Son, page 29