Expert: Maria - 7/14/2007

Question
An old acquaintance bestowed upon me the nickname "Noctiluces" and I have since been told it means "night moth" and is a 16th century euphemism for "prostitute". (Yes, I know, lovely acquaintance if it is...) Is this true?

Answer
Hello Shelby,

Actually in classical Latin there is the feminine noun “noctiluca” (nominative case, 1st.declension) which means literally “what shines by night”, hence the meaning  “moon” and also “lantern”, since this Latin noun derives from ‘nox’(night) plus ‘lucere’( to shine).

As for "Noctiluces", it does not exist in classical Latin, but it  is the scientific name coined later in taxonomy to indicate the ‘Tithraustes noctiluces’, i.e.” the medium-sized moths which have stout bodies and are typically drab--brown or grayish in color”.
In this scientific name there is a plural “noctiluces” from an inexistent Latin term ‘noctilux’ whose plural should be ‘noctiluces’, if it existed.

Finally with regard to your nickname meaning "night moth" which would have been used as a 16th century euphemism for "prostitute, I think your acquaintance referred to
a type of Renaissance Venetian courtesan known just in Venice and in Italy as the “cortigiana di lume” (literally, ‘light/lamp/ lantern courtesan ),  i.e. prostitute,  who lived and practiced its trade near the Rialto Bridge.

In short I think that your acquaintance as mixed up “noctiluces” from “Tithraustes noctiluces’ and the 16th century Venetian “lantern courtesan”.

Hope all is clear enough.

Best,
Maria
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"Taxonomy is the area of the biological sciences devoted to the identification, naming, and classification of living things according to apparent common characteristics".