Throughout the spring and summer, the days are long and the sun is high in the sky because the Earth's axis is tilted toward the sun. The sun rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest. Because the Earth's axis is tilted, the sun appears to move north or south of the celestial equator during the year. It is directly over the Tropic of Cancer on our summer solstice and the Tropic of Capricorn on our winter solstice. The solstices are the points when the sun appears to stop moving north or south.
Solstice means the sun stands still.
On the Equinoxes, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The Earth's axis is tilted at right angles to the direction of the sun. Equinox refers to equal night and day because the sun is above the horizon for twelve hours at all latitudes in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The sun's elevation changes quickly around the equinoxes whereas the change decreases around the solstices. This expresses the essence of the word solstice, which means the sun stands still.