anthelion
Americannoun
noun
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a faint halo sometimes seen in polar or high altitude regions around the shadow of an object cast onto a thick cloud bank or fog
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a white spot occasionally appearing on the parhelic circle at the same height as and opposite to the sun
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A bright white or colored spot appearing at times in the sky opposite the Sun. White anthelia are believed to form from light that is reflected off atmospheric ice crystals; colored anthelia are believed to form from light that is refracted by atmospheric ice crystals.
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Compare parhelion
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of anthelion
1660–70; < Late Greek anthḗlion, neuter of anthḗlios opposite the sun, equivalent to ant- ant- + hḗli ( os ) the sun + -os adj. suffix
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:
What of the silhouette or the anthelion of the Scandinavian Alps, and the aerial cities so often seen by explorers and travelers?
From Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, or what's in a dream: a scientific and practical exposition by Miller, Gustavus Hindman
In the first class we have halos, and coronae, or “glories,” which encircle the luminary; the second class includes rainbows, fog-bows, mist-halos, anthelia and mountain-spectres, whose centres are at the anti-solar point.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 8 "Haller, Albrecht" to "Harmonium" by Various
It was the first anthelia that the lovely girl had seen, and it filled her with wonder and awe.
From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 04 — Fiction by Hammerton, John Alexander, Sir
Other meteorological phenomena caused by the diffraction of light include the anthelia, and the chromatic rings seen encircling shadows thrown on a bank of clouds, mist or fog.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 4 "Coquelin" to "Costume" by Various
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.
