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Glite Dictionary
🐴 Eye disease in horses 🌙 Night vision loss
moon blindness

moon blindness

9.8
Poor sight at night in people and animals often caused by lack of vitamin A
  • noun
  • /mun ˈblaɪndnəs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : nictalopía
  • Vitamin A deficiency can sometimes lead to moon blindness in cattle or even in humans.

Examples

  • The veterinarian diagnosed the horse with moon blindness after it started stumbling at dusk.

  • Farmers have long recognized moon blindness as a serious threat to livestock health.

  • He suffers from moon blindness during the winter months.

  • Are you familiar with moon blindness and its effects?

  • The veterinarian diagnosed the horse with moon blindness after it started stumbling at dusk.

  • Farmers have long recognized moon blindness as a serious threat to livestock health.

  • Vitamin A deficiency can sometimes lead to moon blindness in cattle or even in humans.

Synonyms

night blindness
vsmoon blindness
  • Specialized
3 4.7

Trouble seeing in low light or at night

is applied to humans and animals as a broader clinical term
nyctalopia
vsmoon blindness
  • Specialized
9.9

A condition in which a person cannot see well in dim light or at night

is used for both humans and animals, not only people

How Severe

moon blindness
  • Archaic
9.8
night blindness
  • Specialized
3 4.7

Surface Forms

moon blindness singular
moon blindesses plural

Morphology

Moon + blindness

The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: 'moon' evokes night/dim light and 'blindness' denotes loss of sight, so a learner who knows both words can infer 'loss of vision in low light' or 'night blindness'. This compositional relation is straightforward and parallels the common term 'night blindness', making the MWE immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Moon blindness may come from the old idea of not being able to see well by the moon; people who could not see in 'moonlight' were said to have 'moon blindness'. That's why the term now means trouble seeing in dim light or at night, often caused by a lack of vitamin A.