Colures

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Colure \Co*lure"\ (k[-o]*l[=u]r"), n.; pl. {Colures}
     (k[-o]*l[=u]rz"). [F. colure, L. coluri, pl., fr. Gr.
     ko`loyros dock-tailed, a"i ko`loyroi (sc. grammai` lines) the
     colures; fr. ko`los docked, stunted + o'yra` tail. So named
     because a part is always beneath the horizon.] (Astron. &
     Geog.)


     One of two great circles intersecting at right angles in the
     poles of the equator. One of them passes through the
     equinoctial points, and hence is denominated the equinoctial
     colure; the other intersects the equator at the distance of
     90[deg] from the former, and is called the solstitial colure.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Thrice the equinoctial line
           He circled; four times crossed the car of night
           From pole to pole, traversing each colure. --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]