equinox
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
Etymology: PIE word
 *nókʷts
From Middle English equinox, equinoxe, equynox (“one of the two periods in the year when the day and night are of equal length, equinox; either the zodiac sign Aries or Libra, in which the sun crosses the celestial equator”), from Old French equinoce, equinoxe (modern French équinoxe), or from its etymon Medieval Latin ēquinoxium, ēquinoctium, from Latin aequinoctium (“equinox”), from aequus (“equal”) + nox (“night”) (ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The Latin word, ultimately adopted in Middle English and modern English, displaced Old English efnniht (modern English evennight).
The rare alternative plural form equinoctes treats equinox as if it were a Latin word; the plural of Latin nox (“night”) is noctēs.
Inflected forms:
form: equinoxes
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: equinoctes
pos: noun
tags: plural
rare
form: æquinox
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: One of two times in the year (one in March and the other in September) when the length of the day and the night are equal, which occurs when the sun is directly overhead at the equator; this marks the beginning of spring in one hemisphere and autumn in the other.
pos: noun
examples: [T]he Months of March and September, the tvvo Æquinoxes of Our year, are the moſt vvindy and tempeſtuous, the moſt unſettled and unequable of Seaſons in moſt Countries of the VVorld.
The four grand and ſolemn Bardic days are, of ancient uſage, the tvvo equinoxes, and the tvvo ſolſtices; the nevv and full moons are alſo, ſubordinately, ſolemn Bardic days: […]
[H]e [Milton] believed, his poetic vein only flowed from the autumnal to the vernal equinox; and, in his essay on Education, he doubts whether, in the fine days of spring, any study can be accomplished by young men.
Live long, nor feel in head or chest / Our changeful equinoxes, / Till mellow Death, like some late guest, / Shall call thee from the boxes.
21. Report the experiments, if conveniently they may, at both the solstices and equinoctes. / 22. Observe accurately the time of the sun’s rising on the top of the hill and below, and note the difference.
For [Julius] Cæsar says, that on the night of the fourth day after his landing there was a full moon. He had before mentioned that the summer was far spent, and the æquinox not come, hence, the full moon must have been either in July or August.
The word equinox is generally taken to refer to the days when, at every point on the earth, day and night are of equal length. But this definition of the equinox is a bit misleading. Since it gets light before the sun rises and remains light after the sun sets, the actual period of darkness at the equinox will be substantially less than twelve hours, the exact amount depending on latitude and how one defines the boundary between twilight and night. […] In practice, one cannot determine the equinox by measuring the length of time between sunrise and sunset.
[…] Midsummer’s Day falls near the beginning of summer meteorologically, but was the midpoint of summer in the traditional calendar. Though Midsummer’s Day celebrations are common in the modern Celtic countries, there is no evidence that the ancient Celts celebrated either the solstices or the equinoctes.
gloss: The circumstance of a twenty-four hour time period having the day and night of equal length.
pos: noun
tags: also
figuratively
examples: [D]oe but ſee his vice, / Tis to his vertue, a iuſt equinox, / The one as long as th'other: […]
gloss: One of the two points in space where the apparent path of the Sun intersects with the equatorial plane of the Earth.
pos: noun
gloss: A gale (“very strong wind”) once thought to occur more frequently around the time of an equinox (sense 1), now known to be a misconception; an equinoctial gale.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
rare
examples: The paſſage yet vvas good, the vvind, 'tis true, / VVas ſomevvhat high, but that vvas nothing nevv, / Nor more than uſual Equinoxes blevv.
The Equinox drove the sand into their faces or round their legs, as they dived among the sheep-haunted hollows.
gloss: A celestial equator (“great circle on the celestial sphere, coincident with the plane of the Earth's equator (the equatorial plane)”); also, the Earth's equator.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: [T]hey [seals] are over all the American Coaſt of the South Seas, from Terra del Fuego, up to the Equinoctial Line: but to the North of the Equinox again, in theſe Sea, I never ſavv any, till as far as 21 North Lat[itude].
Related words: equinoctal
equinoctial
equinoctially
equinoctium
interequinoctial
equilux
Derived words: equinox flower
equinoxial
precession of the equinoxes
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: dag-en-nag-ewening
lang: Albanian
word: ekuinoks
lang: Arabic
word: اِعْتِدَال
roman: iʕtidāl
lang: Armenian
word: գիշերահավասար
roman: gišerahavasar
lang: Asturian
word: equinocciu
lang: Azerbaijani
word: ekinoks
lang: Azerbaijani
word: gecə-gündüzün bərabərliyi
lang: Banjarese
word: ekuinoks
lang: Basque
word: ekinokzio
lang: Belarusian
word: раўнадзе́нства
roman: rawnadzjénstva
lang: Bengali
word: বিষুব
roman: biśub
lang: Breton
word: kedez
lang: Bulgarian
word: равноде́нствие
roman: ravnodénstvie
lang: Catalan
word: equinocci
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 二分點 /二分点
roman: èrfēndiǎn
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 分點 /分点
roman: fēndiǎn
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 晝夜平分點 /昼夜平分点
roman: zhòuyè píngfēndiǎn
lang: Czech
word: rovnodennost
lang: Czech
word: ekvinokce
lang: Czech
word: ekvinokcium
lang: Danish
word: jævndøgn
lang: Dutch
word: equinox
lang: Dutch
word: dag-en-nachtevening
lang: Dutch
word: nachtevening
lang: Esperanto
word: ekvinokso
lang: Esperanto
word: tagnoktegaleco
lang: Estonian
word: pööripäev
lang: Estonian
word: võrdpäevsus
lang: Faroese
word: javndøgur
lang: Finnish
word: päiväntasaus
lang: French
word: équinoxe
lang: Old Frisian
word: evennacht
lang: Galician
word: equinoccio
lang: Georgian
word: ბუნიაობა
roman: buniaoba
lang: Georgian
word: ბუნიობა
roman: bunioba
lang: Georgian
word: დღეღამტოლობა
roman: dɣeɣamṭoloba
lang: German
word: Äquinoktium
lang: German
word: Tagnachtgleiche
lang: German
word: Tagundnachtgleiche
lang: Greek
word: ισημερία
roman: isimería
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἰσημερία
roman: isēmería
lang: Gujarati
word: સમપ્રકાશીય ઘટના કે વિષુવકાલ
roman: samaprakāśīya ghaṭnā ke viṣuvkāl
lang: Hebrew
word: נקודת השוויון
lang: Hindi
word: विषुव
roman: viṣuv
lang: Hungarian
word: nap-éj egyenlőség
lang: Icelandic
word: jafndægur
lang: Ido
word: equinoxo
lang: Indonesian
word: ekuinoks
lang: Interlingua
word: equinoctio
lang: Irish
word: cónocht
lang: Italian
word: equinozio
lang: Japanese
word: 分点
roman: bunten
lang: Kannada
word: ವಿಷುವತ್ ಸಂಕ್ರಾಂತಿ
roman: viṣuvat saṅkrānti
lang: Khmer
word: សមភាពរាត្រី
roman: saʼmaʼphiəp riətrəy
lang: Khmer
word: សមរាត្រី
roman: saʼmaʼ riətrəy
lang: Khmer
word: វិសុវ័ត
roman: visovŏət
lang: Korean
word: 분점
roman: bunjeom
lang: Lao
word: ວິສຸວັດ
roman: wi su wat
lang: Latin
word: aequinoctium
lang: Latvian
word: ekvinokcija
lang: Lithuanian
word: ekvinokcija
lang: Lithuanian
word: lygiadienis
lang: Luxembourgish
word: equinoxe
lang: Macedonian
word: рамноде́ница
roman: ramnodénica
lang: Macedonian
word: рамнодне́вица
roman: ramnodnévica
lang: Malagasy
word: ekinôksa
lang: Malay
word: ekuinoks
lang: Malayalam
word: വിഷുവം
roman: viṣuvaṁ
lang: Māori
word: pahore o Rehua
lang: Norman
word: étchinosse
lang: Norman
word: êtchinnoxe
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: jevndøgn
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: jamdøgn
lang: Occitan
word: equinòcci
lang: Old English
word: efnniht
lang: Old Norse
word: jafndœgri
lang: Persian
word: برابران
roman: barâbarân
lang: Persian
word: اعتدال
roman: e'tedâl
lang: Polish
word: ekwinokcjum
lang: Polish
word: równonoc
lang: Portuguese
word: equinócio
lang: Prakrit
word: 𑀯𑀺𑀲𑀼𑀯
roman: visuva
lang: Punjabi
word: ਸਮਰਾਤ
roman: samrāt
lang: Romanian
word: echinox
lang: Romanian
word: echinocțiu
lang: Russian
word: равноде́нствие
roman: ravnodénstvije
lang: Sanskrit
word: विषुव
roman: viṣuva
lang: Sardinian
word: ecuinòtziu
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: co-fhad-thràth
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: равно̀дневица
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: равнодневница
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: ravnòdnevica
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: ravnodnevnica
lang: Slovak
word: ekvinokcium
lang: Slovak
word: rovnodennosť
lang: Slovene
word: ekvinokcij
lang: Slovene
word: enakonočje
lang: Spanish
word: equinoccio
lang: Swahili
word: ikwinoksi
lang: Swahili
word: sikusare
lang: Swedish
word: dagjämning
lang: Tagalog
word: ekinoksiyo
lang: Tajik
word: эътидол
roman: e'tidol
lang: Tamil
word: சம இரவு நாள்
roman: cama iravu nāḷ
lang: Tamil
word: விடுவம்
roman: viṭuvam
lang: Telugu
word: విషువత్తు
roman: viṣuvattu
lang: Thai
word: วิษุวัต
roman: wít-sù-wát
lang: Turkish
word: ekinoks
lang: Turkish
word: ılım
lang: Ukrainian
word: рівноде́ння
roman: rivnodénnja
lang: Urdu
word: اِعْتِدال
roman: i'tidāl
lang: Uzbek
word: tengkunlik
lang: Vietnamese
word: điểm phân
lang: Welsh
word: cyhydnos