Solstice
[Adjective]
Webster's Dictionary 1828
1. Pertaining to a solstice; as a
solstitial point.
2. Happening at a solstice; usually with us, at the summer solstice or
midsummer; as
solstitial heat.
Solstice
[Noun]
Webster's Dictionary 1828
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.
Solstice
[Verb intransitive]
Webster's Dictionary 1913
1. A
stopping or standing still of the sun.
2. 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.
3. The time of the sun's passing the solstices, or
solstitial points, namely, about June 21 and December 21. See Illust. in
Appendix.
