auroral
AmericanOther Word Forms
- aurorally adverb
Etymology
Origin of auroral
First recorded in 1545–55; auror(a) ( def. ) + -al 1
Explanation
An aurora is an astronomical phenomenon, when colored lights seem to shimmer in the sky. Auroral refers to that display––you might describe it as a show of auroral light. The best known aurora is the aurora borealis, otherwise known as the northern lights. If you ever have trouble with auroral, try to remember Fozzie Bear's summation of the impossible from a line in the "Muppet Movie": "The aurora borealis/shining down in Dallas/Can you picture that?"
Vocabulary lists containing auroral
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The aurora is always present around the North and South Poles - this is known as the auroral ring.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2025
Called the Carrington Event, it triggered intense auroral light shows and knocked out telegraph lines across the globe.
From BBC • Nov. 26, 2024
"With Webb, we can really 'open the hood' on the chemistry and unpack how similar or different the auroral process may be beyond our solar system," she added.
From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2024
For isolated brown dwarfs like W1935, the absence of a stellar wind to contribute to the auroral process and explain the extra energy in the upper atmosphere required for the methane emission is a mystery.
From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2024
Except for the vast alternations of storm and calm, of starlight and auroral radiance, there was nothing to happen in that empty and frozen world.
From The Haunters of the Silences A Book of Animal Life by Roberts, Charles George Douglas, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
