aurora

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: Au=ro=ra

CIDE DICTIONARY

aurora, n. [L. aurora, for ausosa, akin to Gr. , , dawn, Skr. ushas, and E. east.].

•  The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises.  [1913 Webster]
•  The rise, dawn, or beginning.  Hawthorne.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  A species of crowfoot.  Johnson.  [1913 Webster]
•  The aurora borealis or aurora australis (northern or southern lights).  [1913 Webster]

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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

aurora, n. (pl. auroras or aurorae)
1 a luminous electrical atmospheric phenomenon, usu. of streamers of light in the sky above the northern or southern magnetic pole.
2 poet. the dawn.

Idiom

aurora australis a southern occurrence of aurora. aurora borealis a northern occurrence of aurora.

Derivative

auroral adj.

Etymology

L, = dawn, goddess of dawn

THESAURUS

aurora

alpenglow, arch aurora, aurora australis, aurora borealis, aurora glory, aurora polaris, break of day, brightening, chanticleer, cockcrow, cocklight, crack of dawn, crepuscule, dawn, dawning, dawnlight, day-peep, daybreak, daylight, dayspring, first brightening, first light, foredawn, glow, half-light, light, merry dancers, morn, morning, morning twilight, northern lights, peep of day, polar lights, polar ray, prime, southern lights, sunrise, sunup, the small hours, twilight, vestibule of Day

ROGET THESAURUS

aurora

Morning

N morning, morn, forenoon, a, m, prime, dawn, daybreak, dayspring, foreday, sunup, peep of day, break of day, aurora, first blush of the morning, first flush of the morning, prime of the morning, twilight, crepuscule, sunrise, cockcrow, cockcrowing, the small hours, the wee hours of the morning, spring, vernal equinox, first point of Aries, noon, midday, noonday, noontide, meridian, prime, nooning, noontime, summer, midsummer, matin, matutinal, vernal, at sunrise, with the sun, with the lark, when the morning dawns, at shut of evening flowers, entre chien et loup, flames in the forehead of the morning sky, the breezy call of incense-breathing morn.

Light

N light, ray, beam, stream, gleam, streak, pencil, sunbeam, moonbeam, aurora, day, sunshine, light of day, light of heaven, moonlight, starlight, sunlight, daylight, broad daylight, noontide light, noontide, noonday, noonday sun, glow, glimmering, glint, play of light, flood of light, phosphorescence, lambent flame, flush, halo, glory, nimbus, aureola, spark, scintilla, facula, sparkling, emication, scintillation, flash, blaze, coruscation, fulguration, flame, lightning, levin, ignis fatuus, luster, sheen, shimmer, reflexion, reflection, gloss, tinsel, spangle, brightness, brilliancy, splendor, effulgence, refulgence, fulgor, fulgidity, dazzlement, resplendence, transplendency, luminousness, luminosity, lucidity, renitency, nitency, radiance, radiation, irradiation, illumination, actinic rays, actinism, Roentgen-ray, Xray, photography, heliography, photometer, optics, photology, photometry, dioptrics, catoptrics, chiaroscuro, clairobscur, clear obscure, breadth, light and shade, black and white, tonality, reflection, refraction, dispersion, refractivity, shining, luminous, luminiferous, lucid, lucent, luculent, lucific, luciferous, light, lightsome, bright, vivid, splendent, nitid, lustrous, shiny, beamy, scintillant, radiant, lambent, sheen, sheeny, glossy, burnished, glassy, sunny, orient, meridian, noonday, tide, cloudless, clear, unclouded, unobscured, gairish, garish, resplendent, transplendent, refulgent, effulgent, fulgid, fulgent, relucent, splendid, blazing, in a blaze, ablaze, rutilant, meteoric, phosphorescent, aglow, bright as silver, light as day, bright as day, light as noonday, bright as noonday, bright as the sun at noonday, actinic, photogenic, graphic, heliographic, heliophagous, a day for gods to stoop and men to soar, dark with excessive bright.

Dimness

N dimness, darkness, paleness, half light, demi-jour, partial shadow, partial eclipse, shadow of a shade, glimmer, gliming, nebulosity, cloud, eclipse, aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut time, break of day, daybreak, dawn, moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade, moonshine, starlight, owl's light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight, farthing candle, dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams, dark, faint, shadowed forth, glassy, cloudy, misty, blear, muggy, fuliginous, nebulous, nebular, obnubilated, overcast, crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty, looming, pale, confused.

Luminary

N luminary, light, flame, spark, scintilla, phosphorescence, fluorescence, sun, orb of day, Phoebus, Apollo, Aurora, star, orb, meteor, falling star, shooting star, blazing star, dog star, Sirius, canicula, Aldebaran, constellation, galaxy, zodiacal light, anthelion, day star, morning star, Lucifer, mock sun, parhelion, phosphor, phosphorus, sun dog, Venus, aurora, polar lights, northern lights, aurora borealis, southern lights, aurora australis, lightning, chain lightning, fork lightning, sheet lightning, summer lightning, ball lightning, kugelblitz, phosphorus, yellow phosphorus, scintillator, phosphor, firefly luminescence, ignis fatuus, Jack o'lantern, Friar's lantern, will-o'-the- wisp, firedrake, Fata Morgana, Saint Elmo's fire, glowworm, firefly, June bug, lightning bug, anglerfish, gas, gas light, lime light, lantern, lanthorn, dark lantern, bull's-eye, candle, bougie, taper, rushlight, oil, wick, burner, Argand, moderator, duplex, torch, flambeau, link, brand, gaselier, chandelier, electrolier, candelabrum, candelabra, girandole, sconce, luster, candlestick, lamp, light, incandescent lamp, tungsten bulb, light bulb, flashlight, torch, arc light, laser, maser neon bulb, neon sign, fluorescent lamp, filament, socket, contacts, filler gas, firework, fizgig, pyrotechnics, rocket, lighthouse, self-luminous, glowing, phosphoric, phosphorescent, fluorescent, incandescent, luminescent, chemiluminescent, radiant, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels, the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky, the planets in their station list'ning stood, the Scriptures of the skies, that orbed continent, the fire that severs day from night, luminary, light, flame, spark, scintilla, phosphorescence, fluorescence, sun, orb of day, Phoebus, Apollo, Aurora, star, orb, meteor, falling star, shooting star, blazing star, dog star, Sirius, canicula, Aldebaran, constellation, galaxy, zodiacal light, anthelion, day star, morning star, Lucifer, mock sun, parhelion, phosphor, phosphorus, sun dog, Venus, aurora, polar lights, northern lights, aurora borealis, southern lights, aurora australis, lightning, chain lightning, fork lightning, sheet lightning, summer lightning, ball lightning, kugelblitz, phosphorus, yellow phosphorus, scintillator, phosphor, firefly luminescence, ignis fatuus, Jack o'lantern, Friar's lantern, will-o'-the- wisp, firedrake, Fata Morgana, Saint Elmo's fire, glowworm, firefly, June bug, lightning bug, anglerfish, gas, gas light, lime light, lantern, lanthorn, dark lantern, bull's-eye, candle, bougie, taper, rushlight, oil, wick, burner, Argand, moderator, duplex, torch, flambeau, link, brand, gaselier, chandelier, electrolier, candelabrum, candelabra, girandole, sconce, luster, candlestick, lamp, light, incandescent lamp, tungsten bulb, light bulb, flashlight, torch, arc light, laser, maser neon bulb, neon sign, fluorescent lamp, filament, socket, contacts, filler gas, firework, fizgig, pyrotechnics, rocket, lighthouse, self-luminous, glowing, phosphoric, phosphorescent, fluorescent, incandescent, luminescent, chemiluminescent, radiant, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels, the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky, the planets in their station list'ning stood, the Scriptures of the skies, that orbed continent, the fire that severs day from night.