Word of the Day : March 20, 2021
equinox
二分时刻;昼夜平分时;春分;秋分
noun EE-kwuh-nahks
Definition
1 : either of the two points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator intersects the ecliptic
天体上赤道与黄道相交的两点
2 : either of the two times each year (as about March 21 and September 23) when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are everywhere on earth of approximately equal length
太阳穿过赤道的每年的两个时段(大约3月21日和9月23日),地球上每个地方的白天和黑夜的长度都大致相等
Examples
"The first recorded New Year’s celebration traces back to Mesopotamia, where 4,000 years ago the ancient Babylonians kicked off an 11-day festival called Akitu on the vernal equinox." — Cody Cottier, Discover (discovermagazine.com), 30 Dec. 2020
第一个有记载的新年庆祝活动,可以追溯到美索不达米亚,4000年前,古巴比伦人在春分时开始一个为期11天的节日,称为阿基图。
"Groundhog Day's origins lie in the ancient European celebration of Candlemas, which is a point midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox—the exact midpoint of astronomical winter." — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 2 Feb. 2021
“Groundhog Day's 起源于古代欧洲的圣烛节庆祝活动,圣烛节位于冬至和春分之间——天文上的冬天的正中(心)。”
圣烛节:古欧洲的2月2日
Did You Know?
Equinox descends from aequus, the Latin word for "equal" or "even," and nox, the Latin word for "night"—a fitting history for a word that describes days of the year when the daytime and nighttime are equal in length. In the northern hemisphere, the vernal equinox marks the first day of spring and occurs when the sun moves north across the equator. (Vernal comes from the Latin word ver, meaning "spring.") The autumnal equinox marks the first day of autumn in the northern hemisphere and occurs when the sun crosses the equator going south. In contrast, a solstice is either of the two moments in the year when the sun's apparent path is farthest north or south from the equator.
Equinox 拉丁文中表“equal『相等』”或“even『甚至』”的aequus及拉丁文nox,意思是“night『夜』”。这个词描述了一年中白天和夜晚长度相等的时间,它的历史与之相吻合。在北半球,the vernal equinox『春分点』标志着春天的第一天,当太阳穿过赤道向北移动时发生。(Vernal一词来源于拉丁语ver,意为“spring『春天』”) The autumnal『秋分』标志着北半球秋天的第一天,当太阳穿过赤道向南移动时发生。相比之下,a solstice『夏至;冬至』是一年中太阳的视路径离赤道最北或最南的两个时段。
Word Family Quiz
Fill in the blanks to complete a descendant of aequus that refers to an evenness of mind under stress: eq _ _ _ _ m _ _ y.