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Webster 1913 Edition
Equinox
E′qui-nox
,Noun.
1.
The time when the sun enters one of the equinoctial points, that is, about March 21 and September 22. See
Autumnal equinox
, Vernal equinox
, under Autumnal
and Vernal
. When descends on the Atlantic
The gigantic
Stormwind of the
The gigantic
Stormwind of the
equinox
. Longfellow.
2.
Equinoctial wind or storm.
[R.]
Dryden.
Webster 1828 Edition
Equinox
E'QUINOX
,Noun.
The precise time when the sun enters one of the equinoctial points, or the first point of Aries, about the 21st of March, and the first point of Libra, about the 23d of September, making the day and the night of equal length. These are called the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. These points are found to be moving backward or westward, at the rate of 50' of a degree in a year. This is called the precession of the equinoxes.
Definition 2024
equinox
equinox
English
Alternative forms
- æquinox (chiefly archaic)
Noun
equinox (plural equinoxes or equinoctes)
- (astronomy) The intersection of the apparent path of the sun in the sky (the ecliptic) with the celestial equator.
- One of the two days on which this intersection occurs each year: (for the Northern hemisphere) March 20 or 21 in the spring and September 22 or 23 in the autumn.
- 2005, Clive L. N. Ruggles, Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth
- Since it gets light before the sun rises and remains light after the sun sets, the actual period of darkness at the equinox will be substantially less than twelve hours, the exact amount depending on latitude and how one defines the boundary between twilight and night.
- 2005, Clive L. N. Ruggles, Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- (adj, archaic) equinoxial
- northward equinox
- precession of the equinoxes
- southward equinox
Related terms
Coordinate terms
Translations
intersection of the ecliptic with the celestial equator
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