Equator

3 definitions found

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

  Equator \E*qua"tor\, n. [L. aequator one who equalizes: cf. F.
     ['e]quateur equator. See {Equate}.]
     1. (Geog.) The imaginary great circle on the earth's surface,
        everywhere equally distant from the two poles, and
        dividing the earth's surface into two hemispheres.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. (Astron.) The great circle of the celestial sphere,
        coincident with the plane of the earth's equator; -- so
        called because when the sun is in it, the days and nights
        are of equal length; hence called also the {equinoctial},
        and on maps, globes, etc., the {equinoctial line}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Equator of the sun} or {Equator of a planet} (Astron.), the
        great circle whose plane passes through through the center
        of the body, and is perpendicular to its axis of
        revolution.
  
     {Magnetic equator}. See {Aclinic}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  equator
       n 1: an imaginary line around the Earth forming the great circle
            that is equidistant from the north and south poles; "the
            equator is the boundary between the northern and
            southern hemispheres"
       2: a circle dividing a sphere or other surface into two usually
          equal and symmetrical parts

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  104 Moby Thesaurus words for "equator":
     Antarctic Zone, Arctic Circle, Arctic Zone, Frigid Zones,
     Torrid Zone, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Variable Zones,
     anklet, aphelion, apogee, armlet, astronomical longitude,
     autumnal equinox, band, belt, bisector, boundary, bracelet,
     celestial equator, celestial longitude, celestial meridian, center,
     cincture, cingulum, circle, climate, clime, collar, collarband,
     colures, core, diameter, diaphragm, divider, earring, ecliptic,
     equinoctial, equinoctial circle, equinoctial colure, equinox,
     fascia, fillet, finger ring, furnace, galactic longitude,
     geocentric longitude, geodetic longitude, girdle, girt, girth,
     great circle, halfway mark, heart, heliocentric longitude, hell,
     hoop, horse latitudes, inferno, interior, kernel, latitude,
     line of demarcation, longitude, longitude in arc, mean, median,
     meridian, middle, midmost, midriff, midst, neckband, necklace,
     nose ring, nucleus, orbit, oven, parallel, partition, perigee,
     perihelion, period, prime meridian, quoit, ring, roaring forties,
     small circle, solstitial colure, steam bath, subtropics, the line,
     thick, thick of things, trajectory, tropic, tropics,
     vernal equinox, waist, waistline, wristband, wristlet, zodiac,
     zone