EQUINOCTIAL • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Equinoctial

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adjective

Equinoctial adj.

1.

Pertaining to an equinox, or the equinoxes, or to the time of equal day and night; as, the equinoctial line.

2.

Pertaining to the regions or climate of the equinoctial line or equator; in or near that line; as, equinoctial heat; an equinoctial sun.

3.

Pertaining to the time when the sun enters the equinoctial points; as, an equinoctial gale or storm, that is, one happening at or near the time of the equinox, in any part of the world.

Equinoctial colure (Astron.), the meridian passing through the equinoctial points.

Equinoctial line (Astron.), the celestial equator; so called because when the sun is on it, the nights and days are of equal length in all parts of the world. See Equator. "Thrice the equinoctial line He circled."

Equinoctial points (Astron.), the two points where the celestial and ecliptic intersect each other; the one being in the first point of Aries, the other in the first point of Libra.

Equinoctial time (Astron.) reckoned in any year from the instant when the mean sun is at the mean vernal equinoctial point.

noun

Equinoctial n. The equinoctial line.

See images of 'Equinoctial'

Etymology of 'Equinoctial'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Equinoctial" Quotes from Famous Books

... short, though we had no longer any fear of not getting round to the Isle of Wight before the equinoctial gales commenced. We sailed early in the morning, papa being anxious to get across the mouth of the Thames, either as far as Ramsgate or Deal, to avoid the risk of being run down by vessels standing up or down ...

— A Yacht Voyage Round England • W.H.G. Kingston

... the meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude for a seine, and drag the Atlantic Ocean for whales! I scratch my head with the lightning, and purr myself to sleep with the thunder! When I'm cold, I bile the Gulf of Mexico and bathe in it; when I'm hot I fan myself with an equinoctial storm; when I'm thirsty I reach up and suck a cloud dry like a sponge; when I range the earth hungry, famine follows in my tracks! Whoo-oop! Bow your neck and spread! I put my hand on the sun's face and make it night in the earth; I bite a piece out of the moon and hurry the seasons; ...

— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... prevailing, and the winds roared and the rain fell in torrents and the sea looked as if it had gone mad. Before the storm there was a report of a big battle, but no details of it had reached them. For the Pentland Firth had been in its worst equinoctial temper and the proviso added to all Orkney sailing notices, "weather permitting," had been in full ...

— An Orkney Maid • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr

... in our galley as far as the Start, when the appearance of the weather became very threatening. It was just about the time of the equinoctial gales, and there was a consultation among us whether we should run into ...

— Poor Jack • Frederick Marryat

... narrow seas inside of Skye; and that the Kyle-Akin, favorably known to sea-bathers in that region, may actually mean the Kyle (narrow strait) of Hakon, where Hakon may have dropped anchor, and rested for a little while in smooth water and beautiful environment, safe from equinoctial storms. But poor Hakon's heart was now broken. He went to Orkney; died there in the winter; ...

— Early Kings of Norway • Thomas Carlyle

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