colure

American  

[kuh-loor, koh-, koh-loor] / kəˈlʊər, koʊ-, ˈkoʊ lʊər /

noun

Astronomy.

1. either of two great circles of the celestial sphere intersecting each other at the poles, one passing through both equinoxes and the other through both solstices.

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colure British  

/ kəˈlʊə, ˈkəʊlʊə /

noun

1. either of two great circles on the celestial sphere, one of which passes through the celestial poles and the equinoxes and the other through the poles and the solstices

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Etymology

Origin of colure

1540–50; < Late Latin colūrus < Greek kólouros dock-tailed, equivalent to kól ( os ) docked + -ouros -tailed, adj. derivative of ourá tail; so called because the lower part is permanently hidden beneath the horizon

Example Sentences

Inside the latter is a meridian circle, at right angles to which is a graduated colure; then the equator, apparently a double ring, and the ecliptic; also two diametric bars.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Yule, Henry

Note the star μ, which serves to point out the Winter Solstice, where the solstitial colure intersects the ecliptic.

From A Field Book of the Stars by Olcott, William Tyler

The meridian at midnight at the time of the spring equinox is called a "colure,"—the "autumnal colure," because the sun crosses it in autumn.

From The Astronomy of the Bible An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References of Holy Scripture by Maunder, E. Walter (Edward Walter)

Caph is equidistant from the Pole, and exactly opposite the star Megres in Ursa Major; with α Andromedæ and γ Pegasi it marks the equinoctial colure.

From A Field Book of the Stars by Olcott, William Tyler

The reverence paid to Taurus continued long after, by the precession of the Equinoxes, the colure of the vernal equinox had come to pass through Aries.

From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Pike, Albert

Related Words

• ring
• sphere