halo

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“
The idea of a woman who painted amused him, like the bear that danced in the Hippodrome Beyond the gold of the halo was the ocher of the desert and, standing lonely over the saint's right shoulder, the pillar on which he had lived in penance for fifteen years, the pillar that had given him his name--Simon Stylites Why do I reverence this saint?

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun A circular band of colored light around a light source, as around the sun or moon, caused by the refraction and reflection of light by ice particles suspended in the intervening atmosphere.
  2. noun Something resembling this band.
  3. noun A luminous ring or disk of light surrounding the heads or bodies of sacred figures, such as saints, in religious paintings; a nimbus.
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Examples (50)

  • This halo is assumed to consist of perhaps 50 million comets in slow orbit around the Sun with mean distances ranging between 30,000 and 50,000 a.u. —  Analog July, 1974
  • It's what industry experts call a halo vehicle, meaning it generates attention that translates into sales of the manufacturers 'less-expensive models, as well as overall respect for the brand and company. —  Freep.com - RSS
  • It's what industry experts call a halo vehicle, meaning it generates attention that translates into sales of the manufacturers 'less-expensive The 2010 Ford Fusion came up in pictures around the internet. —  CarBuyersNoteBook
  • The manger is chocolate, the child is toffee (weird flavors you get here …) and the halo is a sort of yellow licorice. —  Planet Nomad
  • I like to pick on halo, IMO halo was way overated and if so many people liked that then trillions more should like chrono trigger. halo 2 was over-rated. the original is brilliant and around $10-20 for a pre-owned copy these days or the same to download, disc scratching and console death of the 360 aside. —  Latest from PALGN
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Medieval Latin halō, from accusative of Latin halōs, from Greek, threshing floor, disk of or around the sun or moon.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. In Middle English hale; = French halo = Spanish halo, halon = Portuguese halão = Italian alone, from Latin halos, genitive and accusative halo (= Arabic hēlah = Hindustani hālah, a halo), from Greek ἄλως, genitive and accusative ἄλω, Epic ἀλωή, a threshing-floor (on which the oxen trod out a circular path), hence the round disk of the sun or moon, later a halo around them, from ἀλεῖν, grind.
  2. from halo, n.
 

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/ˈheɪloʊ/
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