Adjacent Words

Aurora definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AURO'RA, n. [L. aurora; Heb. light and to raise.]
1. The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day, or morning twilight.
2. The goddess of the morning, or twilight deified by fancy. The poets represented her as rising out of the ocean, in a chariot, with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew.
3. A species of crowfoot.
Aurora Borealis, or lumen boreale; northern twilight. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending towards the zenith from a dusky line a few degrees above the horizon. sometimes it assumes a wavy appearance, as in America, in March 1782, when it overspread the whole hemisphere. Sometimes it appears in detached places; at other times, it almost covers the hemisphere. As the streams of light have a tremulous motion, they are called, in the Shetland isles, merry dancers. They assume all shapes, and a variety of colors, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood color; and in the northern latitudes, serve to illuminate the earth and cheer the gloom of long winter nights. This light is sometimes near the earth. It is said to have been seen between the spectator and a distant mountain.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the first light of day; "we got up before dawn"; "they talked until morning" [syn: dawn, dawning, morning, aurora, first light, daybreak, break of day, break of the day, dayspring, sunrise, sunup, cockcrow] [ant: sundown, sunset]
2: an atmospheric phenomenon consisting of bands of light caused by charged solar particles following the earth's magnetic lines of force
3: (Roman mythology) goddess of the dawn; counterpart of Greek Eos

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural auroras or aurorae) Etymology: Latin — more at east Date: 14th century 1. dawn 2. capitalized the Roman goddess of dawn — compare Eos 3. a luminous phenomenon that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet's magnetic polar regions and is caused by the emission of light from atoms excited by electrons accelerated along the planet's magnetic field lines • auroral adjective • aurorean adjective

Merriam Webster's

geographical name 1. city N central Colorado E of Denver population 276,393 2. city NE Illinois population 142,990 3. town Canada in SE Ontario population 40,167

Britannica Concise

Luminous phenomenon of the upper atmosphere that occurs primarily at high latitudes. Auroras in the Northern Hemisphere are called aurora borealis, or northern lights; in the Southern Hemisphere they are called aurora australis, or southern lights. Auroras are caused by the interaction of energetic particles (electrons and protons) from outside the atmo-sphere with atoms of the upper atmosphere. Such interaction occurs in zones surrounding the earth's magnetic poles. During periods of intense solar activity, auroras occasionally extend to the middle latitudes. City (pop., 1996 est.: 252,000), N central Colorado. It was founded near Denver during the silver boom of 1891 and named Fletcher; it was incorporated and renamed in 1907. Though mainly residential, it is also the site of Buckley Air National Guard Base. Roman goddess of dawn. Her Greek counterpart was Eos. Hesiod described her as the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. She was the sister of Helios, the sun, and Selene, the moon. By the Titan Astraeus, she became the mother of the winds and of the evening star. In Greek mythology she was also represented as the lover of the hunters Cephalus and Orion. Luminous phenomenon of the upper atmosphere that occurs primarily at high latitudes. Auroras in the Northern Hemisphere are called aurora borealis, or northern lights; in the Southern Hemisphere they are called aurora australis, or southern lights. Auroras are caused by the interaction of energetic particles (electrons and protons) from outside the atmo-sphere with atoms of the upper atmosphere. Such interaction occurs in zones surrounding the earth's magnetic poles. During periods of intense solar activity, auroras occasionally extend to the middle latitudes. City (pop., 1996 est.: 252,000), N central Colorado. It was founded near Denver during the silver boom of 1891 and named Fletcher; it was incorporated and renamed in 1907. Though mainly residential, it is also the site of Buckley Air National Guard Base. Roman goddess of dawn. Her Greek counterpart was Eos. Hesiod described her as the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. She was the sister of Helios, the sun, and Selene, the moon. By the Titan Astraeus, she became the mother of the winds and of the evening star. In Greek mythology she was also represented as the lover of the hunters Cephalus and Orion. Luminous phenomenon of the upper atmosphere that occurs primarily at high latitudes. Auroras in the Northern Hemisphere are called aurora borealis, or northern lights; in the Southern Hemisphere they are called aurora australis, or southern lights. Auroras are caused by the interaction of energetic particles (electrons and protons) from outside the atmo-sphere with atoms of the upper atmosphere. Such interaction occurs in zones surrounding the earth's magnetic poles. During periods of intense solar activity, auroras occasionally extend to the middle latitudes. City (pop., 1996 est.: 252,000), N central Colorado. It was founded near Denver during the silver boom of 1891 and named Fletcher; it was incorporated and renamed in 1907. Though mainly residential, it is also the site of Buckley Air National Guard Base. Roman goddess of dawn. Her Greek counterpart was Eos. Hesiod described her as the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. She was the sister of Helios, the sun, and Selene, the moon. By the Titan Astraeus, she became the mother of the winds and of the evening star. In Greek mythology she was also represented as the lover of the hunters Cephalus and Orion.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. auroras or aurorae) 1 a luminous electrical atmospheric phenomenon, usu. of streamers of light in the sky above the northern or southern magnetic pole. 2 poet. the dawn. Phrases and idioms: aurora australis a southern occurrence of aurora. aurora borealis a northern occurrence of aurora. Derivatives: auroral adj. Etymology: L, = dawn, goddess of dawn

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Aurora Au*ro"ra, n.; pl. E. Auroras, L. (rarely used) Auror[ae]. [L. aurora, for ausosa, akin to Gr. ?, ?, dawn, Skr. ushas, and E. east.] 1. The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises. 2. The rise, dawn, or beginning. --Hawthorne. 3. (Class. Myth.) The Roman personification of the dawn of day; the goddess of the morning. The poets represented her a rising out of the ocean, in a chariot, with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew. 4. (Bot.) A species of crowfoot. --Johnson. 5. The aurora borealis or aurora australis (northern or southern lights). Aurora borealis, i. e., northern daybreak; popularly called northern lights. A luminous meteoric phenomenon, visible only at night, and supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or bank, a few degrees above the northern horizon; when reaching south beyond the zenith, it forms what is called the corona, about a spot in the heavens toward which the dipping needle points. Occasionally the aurora appears as an arch of light across the heavens from east to west. Sometimes it assumes a wavy appearance, and the streams of light are then called merry dancers. They assume a variety of colors, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood color. The Aurora australisis a corresponding phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, the streams of light ascending in the same manner from near the southern horizon.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. (Mythol.) Goddess of Morning. 2. Daybreak, dawn, morning, sunrise, break of day, opening of day, peep of day, first blush of the morning. See morn.

Moby Thesaurus

alpenglow, arch aurora, aurora australis, aurora borealis, aurora glory, aurora polaris, break of day, brightening, chanticleer, cockcrow, cocklight, crack of dawn, crepuscule, dawn, dawning, dawnlight, day-peep, daybreak, daylight, dayspring, first brightening, first light, foredawn, glow, half-light, light, merry dancers, morn, morning, morning twilight, northern lights, peep of day, polar lights, polar ray, prime, southern lights, sunrise, sunup, the small hours, twilight, vestibule of Day