AURORA BOREALIS • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Aurora borealis

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/ərˈɔrə bˌɔriˈæləs/ Listen

noun

Aurora n. (pl. E. auroras, L. rarely used aurorae)

1.

The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises.

2.

The rise, dawn, or beginning.

3.

(Class. Myth.) The Roman personification of the dawn of day; the goddess of the morning. The poets represented her a rising out of the ocean, in a chariot, with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew.

4.

(Bot.) A species of crowfoot.

5.

The aurora borealis or aurora australis (northern or southern lights).

Aurora borealis, i. e., northern daybreak; popularly called northern lights. A luminous meteoric phenomenon, visible only at night, and supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or bank, a few degrees above the northern horizon; when reaching south beyond the zenith, it forms what is called the corona, about a spot in the heavens toward which the dipping needle points. Occasionally the aurora appears as an arch of light across the heavens from east to west. Sometimes it assumes a wavy appearance, and the streams of light are then called merry dancers. They assume a variety of colors, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood color. The

Aurora australis is a corresponding phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, the streams of light ascending in the same manner from near the southern horizon.

See images of 'Aurora borealis'

Etymology of 'Aurora borealis'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Aurora borealis" Quotes from Famous Books

... the invitation, tossed it, together with a note from Dick, across to Barney without comment, the color of his entire world changed for that favorite son of Broadway. The surly gloom of the end of a profitless enterprise became magically an aurora borealis of superior hopes:—no, something infinitely more substantial than any heaven-painting flare of ...

— Children of the Whirlwind • Leroy Scott

... the Esquimaux were determined to have the last word, and went on firing after the cannon had ceased to roar. It was a calm night without moon, but the brilliant display of numberless stars, and a glorious Aurora Borealis, increased the enjoyment. The brethren, Stock and Haller, coming on board, we could not quit the deck till midnight; sleep was not thought of. Captain Martin also displayed a number of blue lights, to the great astonishment and gratification of the Esquimaux." The Captain ...

— The Moravians in Labrador • Anonymous

... with which we stood to the southward; having frequent showers of sleet and snow. But, in the night, we had fair weather, and a clear serene sky; and, between midnight and three o'clock in the morning, lights were seen in the heavens, similar to those in the northern hemisphere, known by the name of Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights; but I never heard of the Aurora Australia been seen before. The officer of the watch observed that it sometimes broke out in spiral rays, and in a circular form; then its light was very strong, and its appearance beautiful. ...

— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 14 • Robert Kerr

... flood A beautiful Ice Palace stood, A dome of frost-work, on the plan Of that once built by Empress Anne,[1] Which shone by moonlight—as the tale is— Like an Aurora Borealis. ...

— The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore • Thomas Moore et al

... (if the term may be used) to certain midnight apparitions. The Aurora Borealis is always a pleasant companion; a meteor seems to come like a messenger from departed spirits; and the blossoming of trees in the moonlight becomes a sight looked ...

— Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals • Maria Mitchell

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