Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Inability to see in a dim light: same as
nyctalopia .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hen-blindness.
Examples
-
This ophthalmia has been by some denominated _hen-blindness_, from the circumstance of hens 'eyes being thus affected, when they are unable to see to pick up small grains in the dusk of the evening.
An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa Abd Salam Shabeeny
Gammerstang commented on the word hen-blindness
(noun) - (1) A name given in allusion to hens, to that kind of defective vision which is comparatively good by day but lost or obscure by night.
--Rev. John Boag's Imperial Lexicon of the English Language, c.1850
(2) Hens . . . cannot see to pick up small grains in the dusk of the evening, and so employ this time in going to roost; this is sometimes called hen-blindness.
--John Good's Study of Medicine, 1834
January 16, 2018