solstice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɒl.stɪs/, /ˈsəʊl.stɪs/ (UK); /ˈsɑl.stɪs/, /ˈsoʊl.stɪs/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English solstice,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French solstice,^[2][4][5][6] from Latin sōlstitium (“point at which the sun seems to stand still”),^{[2][4][5][7][6]} from sōl “sun” and -stitium “a stopping”, related to sistere “to stand still, cause to stand”.^[2][4][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Either of the two times in the year, midway between the equinoxes, when the sun reaches its farthest point from the equator (c. 1250).^[8][4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

At those times the sun seems to stand still in its north–south motion before turning back, hence the name.^[5] In late Old English the idea was rendered by the native sunstede.^[5] Latin sōlstitium often meant especially the summer solstice, and English solstice was also used of the heat of midsummer (1643).^[5][8] From 1601 it named the solstitial point on the ecliptic,^[8] and from the early 17th century it was used figuratively of a turning point, culmination or furthest limit.^[8][2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – the summer or winter solstice.^[8][3]
• 1391 – Chaucer's solsticium of somer.^[3]
• 1601 – a solstitial point.^[8]
• before 1631 – figuratively, a culmination or turning point.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Either of the two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator, about 21 June and 21 December, marking the longest and shortest days.
2. Either of the two points on the ecliptic farthest from the celestial equator.
3. A furthest or culminating point; a turning point.

Word family

• solstitial
• summer solstice
• winter solstice

Related words

• equinox
• solar
• armistice
• stand
• state

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House