equator
[ih-kwey-ter]
- the great circle on a sphere or heavenly body whose plane is perpendicular to the axis, equidistant everywhere from the two poles of the sphere or heavenly body.
- the great circle of the earth that is equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole.
- a circle separating a surface into two congruent parts.
- celestial equator.
Show More
Origin of equator
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
sphereringhooparcbenddiskeyeorbcirclewheelcircletcurvaturebandarchgyreringletcurveorbitbowloopExamples from the Web for equator
Contemporary Examples
Yasuni Natonal Park, where the equator meets the Andes, is famed for its fabulous variety of plants and animals.
The Rio+20 Conference Went From Good Intentions to the To-Do List From HellMac Margolis
June 23, 2012
An orbit near the equator was important for a variety of reasons.
Those storms kicked up in the collision zone around the equator spin westward off the coast of Cape Verde.
And yet the trees are cultivated in every country within 15 degrees of the Equator, so a virtual cocoa belt encircles the globe.
Historical Examples
Aunt Jane approached a degree nearer the equator, and said, gently, "I fear I do."
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
I may almost say their temperature would be the same at the Equator as the Pole.
The Field of IceJules Verne
And he tells you that the earth south of the Equator makes the inferior man.
Slavery Ordained of GodRev. Fred A. Ross, D.D.
There is no distinction between the equator and the ecliptic.
The RepublicPlato
If it did, the equator would be frozen in twenty-four hours!
equator
- the great circle of the earth with a latitude of 0°, lying equidistant from the poles; dividing the N and S hemispheres
- a circle dividing a sphere or other surface into two equal symmetrical parts
- See magnetic equator
- astronomy See celestial equator
Show More
Word Origin
C14: from Medieval Latin (circulus) aequātor (diei et noctis) (circle) that equalizes (the day and night), from Latin aequāre to make equal
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
Word Origin and History for equator
n.
late 14c., from Medieval Latin aequator diei et noctis "equalizer of day and night" (when the sun is on the celestial equator, twice annually, day and night are of equal length), agent noun from Latin aequare "make equal" (see equate). Sense of "celestial equator" is earliest, extension to "terrestrial line midway between the poles" first recorded in English 1610s.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
equator
[ĭ-kwā′tər]
- An imaginary line forming a great circle around the Earth's surface, equidistant from the poles and in a plane perpendicular to the Earth's axis of rotation. It divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres and is the basis from which latitude is measured.
- A similar circle on the surface of any celestial body.
- The celestial equator.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
equator
An imaginary circle around the Earth, equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole.
Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.