CORONA (coronae)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: coronae   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does corona mean? 

• CORONA (noun)
  The noun CORONA has 6 senses:

1. the outermost region of the sun's atmosphere; visible as a white halo during a solar eclipse

2. (botany) the trumpet-shaped or cup-shaped outgrowth of the corolla of a daffodil or narcissus flower

3. an electrical discharge accompanied by ionization of surrounding atmosphere

4. one or more circles of light seen around a luminous object

5. (anatomy) any structure that resembles a crown in shape

6. a long cigar with blunt ends

  Familiarity information: CORONA used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CORONA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The outermost region of the sun's atmosphere; visible as a white halo during a solar eclipse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

aureole; corona

Hypernyms ("corona" is a kind of...):

glow; glowing; radiance (the amount of electromagnetic radiation leaving or arriving at a point on a surface)

Holonyms ("corona" is a part of...):

nimbus; nimbus cloud; rain cloud (a dark grey cloud bearing rain)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(botany) the trumpet-shaped or cup-shaped outgrowth of the corolla of a daffodil or narcissus flower

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("corona" is a kind of...):

plant part; plant structure (any part of a plant or fungus)

Domain category:

botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)

Holonyms ("corona" is a part of...):

corolla ((botany) the whorl of petals of a flower that collectively form an inner floral envelope or layer of the perianth)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An electrical discharge accompanied by ionization of surrounding atmosphere

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

corona; corona discharge; corposant; electric glow; Saint Elmo's fire; Saint Elmo's light; Saint Ulmo's fire; Saint Ulmo's light; St. Elmo's fire

Hypernyms ("corona" is a kind of...):

arc; discharge; electric arc; electric discharge; spark (electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field)

Sense 4

Meaning:

One or more circles of light seen around a luminous object

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("corona" is a kind of...):

light; visible light; visible radiation ((physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(anatomy) any structure that resembles a crown in shape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("corona" is a kind of...):

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement)

Domain category:

anatomy; general anatomy (the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals)

Derivation:

coronary (surrounding like a crown (especially of the blood vessels surrounding the heart))

Sense 6

Meaning:

A long cigar with blunt ends

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("corona" is a kind of...):

cigar (a roll of tobacco for smoking)

 Context examples 

Researchers don't know whether and when the corona will shift back.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

What's more, the NuSTAR observations reveal that the grip of the black hole's gravity pulled the corona's light onto the inner portion of its superheated disk, better illuminating it.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

The new data could ultimately help determine more about the mysterious nature of black hole coronas.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

A compact source of X-rays that sits near the black hole, called the corona, has moved closer to the black hole over a period of just days.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

Follow-up observations indicate that the corona is still in this close configuration, months after it moved.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

Though astronomers are uncertain of the shape and temperature of coronas, they know that they contain particles that move close to the speed of light.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

As the corona shifted closer to the black hole, the gravity of the black hole exerted a stronger tug on the X-rays emitted by it.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

Even though some light falls into a supermassive black hole never to be seen again, other high-energy light emanates from both the corona and the surrounding accretion disk of superheated material.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

Almost as if somebody had shone a flashlight for the astronomers, the shifting corona lit up the precise region they wanted to study.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)