Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

canicular

American  
[kuh-nik-yuh-ler] / kəˈnɪk jə lər /

adjective

Astronomy.
  1. pertaining to the rising of the Dog Star or to the star itself.


canicular British  
/ kəˈnɪkjʊlə /

adjective

  1. of or relating to the star Sirius or its rising

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of canicular

Middle English, late Old English < Late Latin canīculāris of Sirius, equivalent to Latin Canīcul ( a ) Sirius ( cani ( s ) dog + -cula -cule 1 ) + -āris -ar 1

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.

See Examples For:

The canicular weather I suffered from in the south followed me even here.

From My Unknown Chum by Charles Bullard Fairbanks

Its rectangular avenues—so wide that they afford no protection from the wintry blast nor shelter from the canicular sunshine, and as interminable as a tale in a weekly newspaper—tire me out.

From My Unknown Chum by Charles Bullard Fairbanks

That is, under the canicular, or dog-star, and before the dog-star, purgations are painfull and difficill.

From Spadacrene Anglica The English Spa Fountain by James Rutherford

It was midsummer, but no words and no experience of other places can convey an idea of the canicular heat of Jerusalem.

From Tancred Or, The New Crusade by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield

Some days after the canicular holidays,–precisely when, a year previous, the poor prisoner had entered on his new office with so many philanthropic hopes,–that rumor came forth like a pestilential cloud out of the session-chambers.

From Hesperus or Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days Vol. II A Biography by Jean Paul

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training