dark adaptation
- noun
- /dɑrk ˌædæpˈteɪʃən/
- Specialized
:
adaptación a la oscuridad
- Astronomers recommend sitting quietly for 20 minutes to achieve full dark adaptation before starting observations.
Examples
-
There is an exploratory station for families to understand how dark adaptation is fundamental to observing the night sky.
Academic text (2007) -
Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and dark adaptation are familiar threshold tests for visual functions.
Academic text (2009) -
Vitamin A cannot be produced by the body and is therefore obtained through diet; a decrease in the active form of vitamin A in the body, retinol, is thought to be linked with age-associated slowing in visual dark adaptation.
Academic text (2018) -
To observe faint stars, it is crucial to allow for proper dark adaptation, which improves our vision in low light.
-
After a few minutes in the dark, my eyes experienced dark adaptation and I could see the stars clearly.
Synonyms
4
4.2
The process when a sense organ becomes less sensitive to light or sound
Antonyms
- Specialized
Eyes adjust to bright light by making pupils smaller and using cells that detect color
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'adaptation' (a process of adjusting) combined with 'dark' (low light) straightforwardly yields the process of adjusting to darkness. This is a common, cross-linguistic conceptual combination, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Dark adaptation comes from the simple picture of your eyes making an adaptation to dark after bright light. The eyes change so you can see in low light, so the phrase means 'the process of your eyes getting used to low light'.