heliacal

American  

[hi-lahy-uh-kuhl] / hɪˈlaɪ ə kəl /

Also heliac

adjective

Astronomy.

1. pertaining to or occurring near the sun, especially applied to such risings and settings of a star as are most nearly coincident with those of the sun while yet visible.

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Other Word Forms

• heliacally adverb

Etymology

Origin of heliacal

1600–10; < Late Latin hēliac ( us ) (< Greek hēliakós; heli- ¹, -ac ) + -al ¹

Example Sentences

And precisely at the moment of the heliacal rising of Arcturus, also rose Spica Virginis.

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

They also possessed lists of the fixed stars, and drew up tables of the times of their heliacal risings.

From The Babylonian Legends of the Creation by Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir

They approximated to the truth in reference to the solar year, by observing the equinoxes and solstices, and the heliacal rising of particular stars.

From The Old Roman World, : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization. by Lord, John

The Sothiac period, or that cycle in which the heliacal rising of Sirius passed the whole civil year, and took place again on the same day, was of 1461 years, not 14,601.

From Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville by Somerville, Mary

The heliacal rising of Canopus was also a precursor of the rising of the Nile.

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

Related Words

• cosmic