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• helio
  helio

  noun

  a heliogram.
• helio-
  helio-

  a combining form meaning “sun,” used in the formation of compound words.

helio

¹ American  

[hee-lee-oh] / ˈhi liˌoʊ /

noun

Informal.

• helios
  plural

1. a heliogram.

2. a heliograph.

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helio- ² American  

1. a combining form meaning “sun,” used in the formation of compound words.

   heliolatry.

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helio- British  

combining form

1. indicating the sun

   heliocentric

   heliolithic

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Usage

What does helio- mean? Helio- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “sun.” It is frequently used in a variety of scientific and technical terms. Helio- comes from Greek hḗlios, meaning “sun.” The Latin cognate, sōl, is the source of several words related to the sun, such as solar and solstice. What are variants of helio-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, helio- becomes heli-, as in heliencephalitis. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article for heli-.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• helios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of helio¹

By shortening

Origin of helio-²

< Greek, combining form of hḗlios sun

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

helio helios

The bus finally vanished less than a half-mile ahead of Mason's helio, and there was a dark vertical shadow jutting just above the tree tops.

From The Women-Stealers of Thrayx by Fox B. Holden

"But why should you want helio when you know it doesn't suit you?" stormed Daphne.

From For the School Colours by Angela Brazil

And Snap’s helio mirrors, attuned for an hour now to pick up the faintest signal, were motionless.

From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930 by Harry Bates

The helio was slanting downward, and was now less than five miles distant from the fast vanishing bus.

From The Women-Stealers of Thrayx by Fox B. Holden

When you put Captain Robers and his men off this ship they smuggled out with them a hand-operated helio set.

From The Space Rover by Edwin K. Sloat

“Heliothraupis,” they wrote, combines the Greek helios, for “sun,” with thraupis, “meaning ‘finch’ or ‘small bird,’ but in current usage usually referring to tanagers.”

From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2021

Henceforward a line of signal stations with their flickering helios would be the only links.

From The Story of the Malakand Field Force An Episode of Frontier War by Winston Churchill

His main helios were set in the reverse.

From Astounding Stories of Super-Science April 1930 by Harry Bates

Behind and above, the main body of the fleet sloped in echeloned ranks, hiding the threatened city with an impenetrable terraced wall of buzzing helios and massive forts.

From When the Sleepers Woke by Arthur Leo Zagat

Flags and helios were speedily busy in the hands of our signalmen sending back information to the Sirdar.

From Khartoum Campaign, 1898 or the Re-Conquest of the Soudan by Bennet Burleigh