Wolf number

[ woolf; French vawlf ]

noun

, Astronomy.

1. a number indicating the degree of sunspot activity on the sun as a factor of observer idiosyncrasies, the number of sunspot groups, and the number of individual sunspots.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Wolf number¹

1975–80; after Rudolf Wolf (1816–93), Swiss astronomer

Example Sentences

Wolf number one went down with a blow which killed him at once.

From Project Gutenberg