Occultation

4 definitions found

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

  Occultation \Oc`cul*ta"tion\, n. [L. occultatio a hiding, fr.
     occultare, v. intens. of occulere: cf. F. occultation. See
     {Occult}.]
     1. (Astron.) The hiding of a heavenly body from sight by the
        intervention of some other of the heavenly bodies; --
        applied especially to eclipses of stars and planets by the


        moon, and to the eclipses of satellites of planets by
        their primaries.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Fig.:) The state of being occult.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The reappearance of such an author after those long
              periods of occultation.               --Jeffrey.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Circle of perpetual occultation}. See under {Circle}.
        [1913 Webster]

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

  Eclipse \E*clipse"\ ([-e]*kl[i^]ps"), n. [F. ['e]clipse, L.
     eclipsis, fr. Gr. 'e`kleipsis, prop., a forsaking, failing,
     fr. 'eklei`pein to leave out, forsake; 'ek out + lei`pein to
     leave. See {Ex-}, and {Loan}.]
     1. (Astron.) An interception or obscuration of the light of
        the sun, moon, or other luminous body, by the intervention
        of some other body, either between it and the eye, or
        between the luminous body and that illuminated by it. A
        lunar eclipse is caused by the moon passing through the
        earth's shadow; a solar eclipse, by the moon coming
        between the sun and the observer. A satellite is eclipsed
        by entering the shadow of its primary. The obscuration of
        a planet or star by the moon or a planet, though of the
        nature of an eclipse, is called an {occultation}. The
        eclipse of a small portion of the sun by Mercury or Venus
        is called a {transit} of the planet.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In ancient times, eclipses were, and among
           unenlightened people they still are, superstitiously
           regarded as forerunners of evil fortune, a sentiment of
           which occasional use is made in literature.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 That fatal and perfidious bark,
                 Built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses
                 dark.                              --Milton.
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     2. The loss, usually temporary or partial, of light,
        brilliancy, luster, honor, consciousness, etc.;
        obscuration; gloom; darkness.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              All the posterity of our fist parents suffered a
              perpetual eclipse of spiritual life.  --Sir W.
                                                    Raleigh.
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              As in the soft and sweet eclipse,
              When soul meets soul on lovers' lips. --Shelley.
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     {Annular eclipse}. (Astron.) See under {Annular}.
  
     {Cycle of eclipses}. See under {Cycle}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  occultation
       n : one celestial body obscures another [syn: {eclipse}]

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

  85 Moby Thesaurus words for "occultation":
     annular eclipse, blackout, blanketing, blocking, blotting out,
     burial, burying, cementwork, central eclipse, cloaking, clouding,
     coating, concealedness, concealment, coverage, covering,
     covering up, covertness, curtaining, darkening, deception,
     dematerialization, departure, disappearance, disappearing,
     dispersion, dissipation, dissolution, dissolving, eclipse,
     eclipsing, elimination, envelopment, enwrapment, enwrapping,
     erasure, evanescence, evaporation, extinction, fadeaway, fadeout,
     fading, going, hiddenness, hiding, incrustation, interment,
     invisibility, laying on, lunar eclipse, mantling, masking, melting,
     mystification, obduction, obscuration, obscurement, obscuring,
     overlaying, overspreading, pargeting, partial eclipse, passing,
     plasterwork, putting away, screening, secrecy, secretion,
     sheathing, shielding, shrouding, solar eclipse, stuccowork,
     subterfuge, superimposition, superposition, total eclipse,
     uncommunicativeness, upholstering, upholstery, vanishing,
     vanishing point, veiling, wipe, wrapping