Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An aurora that occurs in northern regions of the earth. Also called northern lights.
Wiktionary
- n. The aurora of the northern hemisphere
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A luminous meteoric phenomenon, visible only at night, and supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or bank, a few degrees above the northern horizon; when reaching south beyond the zenith, it forms what is called the
corona , about a spot in the heavens toward which the dipping needle points. Occasionally the aurora appears as an arch of light across the heavens from east to west. Sometimes it assumes a wavy appearance, and the streams of light are then calledmerry dancers . They assume a variety of colors, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood color.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the aurora of the northern hemisphere
Etymologies
- From New Latin aurora borealis, from Latin Aurora ("Roman goddess of the dawn") + borealis ("northern") (Wiktionary)
- New Latin aurōra boreālis : Latin aurōra, dawn + Latin boreālis, northern. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Celestial Three: Black wings, a veil of shifting aurora borealis color drapes her from head to shoulders, hiding her features except for the black cherry-red tendrils of hair snaking and twisting from beneath the veil; a burgundy gown clings to her curves, its corseted bodice providing a display shelf for her smooth and rounded cleavage.”
“A magnificent display of the aurora borealis followed, rolling its curtains of delicate fire across a surface of reflected brilliance.”
“Even the undulating aurora borealis at its center seemed dimmed, its colors mere ghosts of blue, purple, and green.”
“Only in lowly Moss, where the talented human boy had deflected the clouds of ash with his sigil, had the aurora borealis shone on unimpeded.”
“The aurora borealis painted palpitating color revels on the sky.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘aurora borealis’.
-
Latin
exempli gratia, deus ex machina, prolix, sisyphean, minatory, empyrean, cicatrix, demulcent, effulgence, emulsion, garum, ablative and 39 more...
-
♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
-
Alaska
Names of places, animals, plants, people, etc. found in and around Alaska.
koyukon, chinook, coho, sockeye, king salmon, chum, dog salmon, kipper, kelt, baggit, samlet, parr and 221 more...
-
Weather: Those Aren't Cats and Dogs!
Unusual weather and environmental phenomena.
parhelion, sun dog, weathergaw, ball lightning, green sun, ice bomb, slithering rocks, monster raindrops, megacryometeor, raining frogs, raining fish, dust devil and 108 more...
-
sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
-
allegria's wordarama
whimsy, braggadoccio, snarky, manini, alleluia, aurora borealis, maman, paisley, frolic
-
Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
-
Words Covered in Faery Dust (A)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
abalone, abbey, abundant, aconite, acorn, addled, adept, aeon, aerie, aglow, ague, aire and 99 more...
-
Benandanti
All things Light
aureole, aura, aurora borealis, aglow, lucent, lambent, radiant, bright, burn, fire, solstice, brazier and 94 more...
-
words that make me happy
christmas, kate, glitter, sparkle, ice, icicle, snow, polar, aurora borealis, northern lights, skylight, fairy lights and 71 more...
-
Bug's favorite words
pathos, onomatopoeia, advantageous, barista, derivative, alliteration, snobbery, literally, bug, malachite, trinity, azure and 17 more...
-
Words I Love
Words I Love
celestial, frivolous, frolic, absurd, whatever, aurora borealis, felicity, perchance, loverly, twinkle, grace, periwinkle and 16 more...
-
liarsenal's list
betwixt, perhaps, corpulent, alaska, aurora borealis, endorphin, hands, hooligan, pestilence, tarantula, fur, communique and 8 more...
-
Glosseme's Words
pusillanimous, fuliginous, nomenclature, cloture, cudgel, infra dig, aurora borealis, lexicon, domicile, lachrymose, pulchritude, veracity and 52 more...
-
Thanks, science!
Because we need great words to describe the great things that kill us (or help us, whichever).
buckyball, haemodynamics, encephalography, prion, ecliptic, aurora borealis, miasma, apoptosis, polyp, nocebo, hemodynamics, eschatology and 7 more...
-
JammyB's Words
spaghettification, trebuchet, corpulent, pleb, imbecile, grok, obscurantism, obfuscation, skein, radiant, collapsar, enceladus and 19 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for aurora borealis.

treeseed named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas Feb 24, 2008