aurora

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“
Some travellers state that the aurora are accompanied by a crackling or hissing noise; but Captain Lyon, who listened for hours, says that this is not the case, and that it is merely that the imagination cannot picture these sudden bursts of light as unaccompanied by noise We will now bid farewell to winter, for with returning summer comes the open sea, and the vessels leave their wintry bed.

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Definitions (26)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A luminous atmospheric phenomenon appearing as streamers or bands of light sometimes visible in the night sky in northern or southern regions of the earth. It is thought to be caused by charged particles from the sun entering the earth's magnetic field and stimulating molecules in the atmosphere.
  2. noun The dawn.

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Examples (50)

  • It was almost like the aurora, only it covered the whole expanse of sky. —  SICK HEART RIVER
  • The very sky caught on fire, and it flickered forever after, called the aurora. —  Demons Don't Dream
  • When the aurora is stronger, the extent of the light-crown is altered double or multiple arcs are seen, generally lying in about the same plane and with a common centre, and rays are cast between the different arcs. —  The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II
  • The spectroscope showed that it was decidedly auroral, but as the aurora was seen on the dark disc of the moon it must have been due to the earth's atmosphere. —  Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville
  • In the midst of the aurora, a great circular disk of greenish light appeared and moved smoothly across the sky. —  The Book of the Damned
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

phosphorescence ·  borealis ·  venida ·  heredem ·  starlight ·  contracta ·  fabrica ·  corra ·  avy ·  dama ·  torchlight ·  sandra
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, dawn, from Latin aurōra; see aus- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin, the dawn, the goddess of the dawn, earlier *Ausosa, = Greek ἀβώρ (Laconian), αὐάς (Æolic), ἀώς (Doric), ἠώς (Ionic), ἕως (Attic), the dawn, goddess of dawn (related to αὔριον, to-morrow), = Sanskrit ushas, *ushāsā, dawn, from √ ush, burn, = Greek αὔειν = Latin urere, burn. To the same source are referred L. aurum, gold, auster, south wind, Greek ἤλιος, the sun, English east, etc.: see east.
 

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/ɔˈroʊrə/
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