northern lights

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. aurora borealis.

northern lights

plural noun

1. another name for aurora borealis

northern lights

1. See under aurora

northern lights

1. See aurora borealis.

Word History and Origins

Origin of northern lights¹

First recorded in 1715–25

When To Use

What are the northern lights?

The northern lights are the shimmering display of lights that sometimes appears in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere.The phenomenon is also commonly called the aurora borealis. The northern lights are an aurora—a natural light display in the sky that is caused by particles from the sun interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. The word borealis is Latin for boreal, which simply means “northern.” The northern lights appear in many colors ranging from green and pink to red, yellow, and blue.Auroras are not exclusive to Earth and occur on every planet in our solar system except Mercury. And the northern lights are not the only aurora on Earth. The aurora in the Southern Hemisphere is called the southern lights or aurora australis. Both the northern and southern versions can be called aurora polaris because they occur around Earth’s poles, but this term is not commonly used.The northern lights dazzle the many people who travel to see the natural light show, which is considered one of Earth’s most magical phenomena.