Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Noctule \Noc"tule\ (?; 135), n. [F., fr. L. noctua a night owl,
   fr. nox, noctis, night.] (Zo["o]l.)
   A large European bat ({Vespertilio, or Noctulina,
   altivolans}).