SOLSTICE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does solstice mean? 

• SOLSTICE (noun)
  The noun SOLSTICE has 1 sense:

1. either of the two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator

  Familiarity information: SOLSTICE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOLSTICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Either of the two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

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

cosmic time (the time covered by the physical formation and development of the universe)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "solstice"):

June 21; midsummer; summer solstice (June 21, when the sun is at its northernmost point)

winter solstice (December 22, when the sun is at its southernmost point)

 Context examples 

As southern winter solstice approaches in the Saturn system, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been revealing dramatic seasonal changes in the atmospheric temperature and composition of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

(Cassini Sees Dramatic Seasonal Changes on Titan, NASA)

The season between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.

(Autumn, NCI Thesaurus)