horizon English · revision 10233

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=fro orizonte|origins=grc ὁρίζων}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /həˈɹaɪ.zən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is late Middle English orizonte, orisoun,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|orizonte|t=horizon]], orizon (modern French horizon),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin horizōn, horizontem,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Greek [[m|grc|ὁρίζων κύκλος|tr=horízōn kýklos|t=bounding circle]],^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) from the present participle of [[m|grc|ὁρίζειν|tr=horízein|t=to bound, limit, divide]], from [[m|grc|ὅρος|tr=hóros|t=boundary, landmark]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The initial h- was restored after the Latin form.^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The boundary line where the earth and sky seem to meet: about 1374 in the OED, about 1385 in Chaucer's ''Troilus and Criseyde'' in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A boundary between two regions of being, now obsolete, is from 1387,^(OED 1989) and in astronomy a great circle of the celestial sphere from about 1391.^(OED 1989) The region of the earth's surface within the horizon is from 1559.^(OED 1989) The figurative sense, the limit of one's range of view, thought or action, is from 1607.^(OED 1989) ''Horizontal'' is from the 16th century, first meaning relating to the horizon (16th century) and later parallel to it (17th century).^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – where earth and sky meet.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1387 – a boundary.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1391 – a celestial circle.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1559 – the region within view.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1607 – limit of one's mental range.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The apparent line where the earth and the [[sky]] meet.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The circle where a plane through the observer, or through the earth's centre, meets the celestial sphere.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The range of one's knowledge, experience or interests.^(AHD)

+ # A particular layer in a sequence of rock strata, identified by its fossils, that marks a period.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[horizonal]]

+ * [[horizonless]]

+ * [[unhorizoned]]

+ * [[A-horizon]]

+ * [[artificial horizon]]

+ * [[event horizon]]

+ * [[rational horizon]]

+ * [[apparent horizon]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[horizontal]]

+ * [[aorist]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}