sol·stice

(sōl′stĭs, sŏl′-, sôl′-)

Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest angular distance from the celestial equator. The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs about June 21, when the sun is at the zenith on the Tropic of Cancer; the winter solstice occurs about December 21, when the sun is at zenith on the Tropic of Capricorn. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year; the winter solstice is the shortest.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sōlstitium : sōl, sun; see sāwel- in Indo-European roots + -stitium, a stoppage; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

sol·sti′tial (-stĭsh′əl) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

solstice

(ˈsɒlstɪs)

1. (Astronomy) either the shortest day of the year (winter solstice) or the longest day of the year (summer solstice)

2. (Physical Geography) either of the two points on the ecliptic at which the sun is overhead at the tropic of Cancer or Capricorn at the summer and winter solstices

[C13: via Old French from Latin sōlstitium, literally: the (apparent) standing still of the sun, from sōl sun + sistere to stand still]

solstitial adj

solˈstitially adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sol•stice

(ˈsɒl stɪs, ˈsoʊl-)

n.

a. either of the two times a year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator: about June 21, when the sun reaches its northernmost point on the celestial sphere, or about Dec. 22, when it reaches its southernmost point.

b. either of the two points in the ecliptic farthest from the equator.

2. a furthest point.

[1200–50; < Middle English < Old French < Latin sōlstitium=sōl sun + -stit-, derivative of sistere to make stand; see stand]

sol·stice

(sŏl′stĭs, sōl′stĭs)

1. Either of the two moments of the year when the sun is farthest north or south of the celestial equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs on June 20 or 21 and the winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22.

2. Either of the two points on the celestial sphere where the apparent path of the sun (known as the ecliptic) reaches its greatest distance from the celestial equator. Compare equinox.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

solstice

- Derived from the Latin sol, "Sun," and stitium, "stoppage," as the Sun appears to stand still on the first day of winter.

solstice

[ˈsɒlstɪs] N → solsticio m
summer solstice → solsticio m de verano
winter solstice → solsticio m de invierno

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

solstice

[ˈsɒlstɪs] n → solstice m
the winter solstice → le solstice d'hiver
the summer solstice → le solstice d'été

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

solstice

n → Sonnenwende f, → Solstitium nt (spec)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

solstice

[ˈsɒlstɪs] n → solstizio

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

solstice

(ˈsolstis) noun

the time of year when there is the greatest length of daylight (summer solstice) or the shortest (winter solstice).

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Presently I noted that the sun belt swayed up and down, from solstice to solstice, in a minute or less, and that consequently my pace was over a year a minute; and minute by minute the white snow flashed across the world, and vanished, and was followed by the bright, brief green of spring.

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and in respect to his assigned time, as the cause of the alteration of all things, we find that those which did not begin to exist at the same time cease to be at the same time; so that, if anything came into beginning the day before the solstice, it must alter at the same time.

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At this period, the summer solstice of the northern regions, it had begun to descend; and to-morrow was to shed its last rays upon them.

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In the early epochs of our race, men dwelt in temporary huts, of bowers of branches, as easily constructed as a bird's-nest, and which they built,--if it should be called building, when such sweet homes of a summer solstice rather grew than were made with hands,--which Nature, we will say, assisted them to rear where fruit abounded, where fish and game were plentiful, or, most especially, where the sense of beauty was to be gratified by a lovelier shade than elsewhere, and a more exquisite arrangement of lake, wood, and hill.

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His measures are the hours; morning and night, solstice and equinox, geometry, astronomy and all the lovely accidents of nature play through his mind.

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The climate is certainly wretched: the summer solstice was now passed, yet every day snow fell on the hills, and in the valleys there was rain, accompanied by sleet.

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The solstice he does not observe; the equinox he knows as little; and the whole bright calendar of the year is without a dial in his mind.

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It was now the month of December, as I said above, in my twenty- third year; and this, being the southern solstice (for winter I cannot call it), was the particular time of my harvest, and required me to be pretty much abroad in the fields, when, going out early in the morning, even before it was thorough daylight, I was surprised with seeing a light of some fire upon the shore, at a distance from me of about two miles, toward that part of the island where I had observed some savages had been, as before, and not on the other side; but, to my great affliction, it was on my side of the island.

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479-492) But if you plough the good ground at the solstice

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"Try the test I told thee of, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "and don't mind any other, for thou knowest nothing about colures, lines, parallels, zodiacs, ecliptics, poles, solstices, equinoxes, planets, signs, bearings, the measures of which the celestial and terrestrial spheres are composed; if thou wert acquainted with all these things, or any portion of them, thou wouldst see clearly how many parallels we have cut, what signs we have seen, and what constellations we have left behind and are now leaving behind.

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Iranian expatriates and Uruguayans interested in Iranian culture and history celebrated the Iranian national festival of Yalda- the winter solstice - in the Uruguayan capital city of Montevideo.

Iranians Celebrate Yalda Festival in Uruguay

The longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere is known as the summer solstice and falls on June 21.

June 21: Longest day of the year