equator

[ih-kwey-ter]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR equator ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

Origin of equator

1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin aequātor, Latin: equalizer (of day and night, as when the sun crosses the equator). See equate, -tor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for equator

sphere, ring, hoop, arc, bend, disk, eye, orb, circle, wheel, circlet, curvature, band, arch, gyre, ringlet, curve, orbit, bow, loop

Examples from the Web for equator

Contemporary Examples of equator

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 Hell
Mac Margolis
June 23, 2012
An orbit near the equator was important for a variety of reasons.
5 Cool Facts About NASA’s NuSTAR X-Ray Telescope
Jesse Singal
June 13, 2012
Those storms kicked up in the collision zone around the equator spin westward off the coast of Cape Verde.
Sudan Drought Breeds Violence
Eliza Griswold
July 3, 2011
And yet the trees are cultivated in every country within 15 degrees of the Equator, so a virtual cocoa belt encircles the globe.
Four Chocolate Questions Answered
Mary Goodbody
September 29, 2009

Historical Examples of equator

Aunt Jane approached a degree nearer the equator, and said, gently, "I fear I do."
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
I may almost say their temperature would be the same at the Equator as the Pole.
The Field of Ice
Jules Verne
And he tells you that the earth south of the Equator makes the inferior man.
Slavery Ordained of God
Rev. Fred A. Ross, D.D.
There is no distinction between the equator and the ecliptic.
The Republic
Plato
If it did, the equator would be frozen in twenty-four hours!
The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras
Jules Verne

British Dictionary definitions for equator

equator

noun

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

Word Origin for equator

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

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.

equator in Science

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.

equator in Culture

equator

An imaginary circle around the Earth, equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole.