Adjacent Words

Tropic of Capricorn definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a line of latitude about 23 degrees to the south of the equator

Merriam Webster's

Etymology: from the sign of the zodiac which its celestial projection intersects Date: 1551 the parallel of latitude that is approximately 23 1/2 degrees south of the equator and that is the southernmost latitude reached by the overhead sun

Britannica Concise

Parallel of latitude approximately 23° 27' south of the terrestrial equator. It is the S boundary of the tropics, and it marks the southernmost latitude at which the sun can be seen directly overhead at noon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tropic Trop"ic, n. [F. tropique, L. tropicus of or belonging to a turn, i. e., of the sun, Gr. ? of the solstice, ? (sc. ?) the tropic or solstice, fr. ? to turn. See Trope.] 1. (Astron.) One of the two small circles of the celestial sphere, situated on each side of the equator, at a distance of 23[deg] 28[min], and parallel to it, which the sun just reaches at its greatest declination north or south, and from which it turns again toward the equator, the northern circle being called the Tropic of Cancer, and the southern the Tropic of Capricorn, from the names of the two signs at which they touch the ecliptic. 2. (Geog.) (a) One of the two parallels of terrestrial latitude corresponding to the celestial tropics, and called by the same names. (b) pl. The region lying between these parallels of latitude, or near them on either side. The brilliant flowers of the tropics bloom from the windows of the greenhouse and the saloon. --Bancroft.