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Webster 1913 Edition

Solstice

Sol′stice

,
Noun.
[L.
solstitium
;
sol
the sun +
sistere
to cause to stand, akin to
stare
to stand: cf. F.
solstice
. See
Solar
,
Adj.
,
Stand
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
A stopping or standing still of the sun.
[Obs.]
Sir T. Browne.
2.
(Astron.)
(a)
The point in the ecliptic at which the sun is farthest from the equator, north or south, namely, the first point of the sign Cancer and the first point of the sign Capricorn, the former being the summer solstice, latter the winter solstice, in northern latitudes; – so called because the sun then apparently stands still in its northward or southward motion.
(b)
The time of the sun’s passing the solstices, or solstitial points, namely, about June 21 and December 21. See Illust. in Appendix.

Webster 1828 Edition

Solstice

SOL'STICE

,
Noun.
[L. solstitium; sol, the sun, and sto, to stand.] In astronomy, the point in the ecliptic at which the sun stops or ceases to recede from the equator, eith north in summer, or south in winter; a tropic or tropical point. There are two solstices; the summer solsitce, the first degree of Cancer, which the sun enter on the 21st of June, and the winter solstice, the first degree of Capricorn, which the sun enters on the 21st of Decenber.

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