Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The apparent intersection of the earth and sky as seen by an observer. Also called apparent horizon.
- n. Astronomy The sensible horizon.
- n. Astronomy The celestial horizon.
- n. Astronomy The limit of the theoretically possible universe.
- n. The range of one's knowledge, experience, or interest.
- n. Geology A specific position in a stratigraphic column, such as the location of one or more fossils, that serves to identify the stratum with a particular period.
- n. Geology A specific layer of soil or subsoil in a vertical cross section of land.
- n. Archaeology A period during which the influence of a specified culture spread rapidly over a defined area: artifacts associated with the Olmec horizon in Mesoamerica.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The circle which at sea forms the apparent boundary between sea and sky, and on land would bound the sky were all terrestrial obstructions down to the sea-level removed. Called the apparent, sensible, or visible horizon, in distinction from the astronomical horizon (which see, below).
- n. Hence The line that bounds the view; the limit of vision.
- n. Figuratively, the limit of intellectual perception, of experience, or of knowledge.
- n. In geology, a stratum or group of strata characterized by the presence of a particular fossil not found in the underlying or overlying beds, or of a peculiar assemblage of fossils. Such a bed or series of beds is often designated as the zone of the fossil or group of fossils in question, and such a distinctly marked division is sometimes called a horizon, as forming a convenient plane of reference for other groups of strata occurring above and below, and not so definitely marked by peculiar fossil contents.
- n. In zoology and anatomy, a level or horizontal line or surface: as, the horizon of the teeth; the horizon of the diaphragm
- To limit or bound by a horizon.
Wiktionary
- n. The horizontal line that appears to separate the Earth from the sky.
- n. The range or limit of one's knowledge, experience or interest.
- n. geology A specific layer of soil or strata
- n. archaeology, US A cultural sub-period or level within a more encompassing time period.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The line which bounds that part of the earth's surface visible to a spectator from a given point; the apparent junction of the earth and sky.
- n. A plane passing through the eye of the spectator and at right angles to the vertical at a given place; a plane tangent to the earth's surface at that place; called distinctively the
sensible horizon . - n. A plane parallel to the sensible horizon of a place, and passing through the earth's center; -- called also
rational horizon orcelestial horizon . - n. (Naut.) The unbroken line separating sky and water, as seen by an eye at a given elevation, no land being visible.
- n. (Geol.) The epoch or time during which a deposit was made.
- n. (Painting) The chief horizontal line in a picture of any sort, which determines in the picture the height of the eye of the spectator; in an extended landscape, the representation of the natural horizon corresponds with this line.
- n. The limit of a person's range of perception, capabilities, or experience.
- n. A boundary point or line, or a time point, beyond which new knowledge or experiences may be found.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a specific layer or stratum of soil or subsoil in a vertical cross section of land
- n. the great circle on the celestial sphere whose plane passes through the sensible horizon and the center of the Earth
- n. the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet
- n. the range of interest or activity that can be anticipated
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek ὁρίζων (horizōn), from ὅρος (horos, "boundary") (Wiktionary)
- Middle English orizon, from Old French, from Latin, from Greek horizōn (kuklos), limiting (circle), horizon, present participle of horizein, to limit, from horos, boundary. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Also looming on the horizon is the question of a referendum and its timing.”
“Watching the Rockies appear on the horizon is the most majestic site, especially when driving through Kansas.”
“The big project on the horizon is the print release of 7th Son: Descent, the first book in my technothriller trilogy.”
“Over the horizon is a Britain that pays its way in the world.”
The Guardian: George Osborne, the big beast of British politics, bestrides the stage
“Over the horizon is a Britain that makes its way in the world, a Britain that is a beacon for liberty and justice.”
The Guardian: Conservative conference live - Monday 4 October
“And looming on the horizon is the possibility of renewed violence in Sudan on a scale unimaginable even by past experience.”
“But the big thing on the horizon is the upcoming trip to New York starting next week, which will include four operas, two musicals and one straight play.”
“On the horizon is the very real threat of a massive air assault on Iran.”
Norman Solomon: How To Survive At The Pentagon On $2 Billion A Day | Disinformation
“Horizons can only be observed in the middle – i.e., the horizon is always experientially equidistant on all sides from the center point, that of the observer or subject.”
“Remember that the satellites are located to the SW and SE of you there and that the elevation above the horizon is about 60 degrees. (85 and 115 degrees W)”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘horizon’.
-
Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
-
color (multi)
tiara's color lists rebuilt :)
( visual, colors, multi, descriptive, randomness )pastel, rainbow, gemstone, crystals, ore, minerals, elements, neon, northern lights, fur, sunset, sunrise and 98 more...
-
POL - campaign tokenisms
Positive words and vague promises. THE words and expressions to use when you want to win over the masses or just don't know what to say.
"CAPITAL" stands for the administrative capital...deserve, deserve better, destiny, determination, determine, determine the wil..., dialogue, differentiation, difficult question, disappointments, diverse, diversity and 751 more...
-
Thresholds
we are all just passing through.
(boundaries, portals and liminal spaces/times)cockcrow, interface, thin line, portal, postern, littoral, interstice, port, membrane, skin, crepuscule, dawn and 309 more...
-
Nature and Environment
north, east, west, mountain, sea, beach, river, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, island and 205 more...
-
Relating To: The Sky
Words of, about, or relating to the heavens.
firmament, horizon, celestial, pleiades, supernal, welkin, cerulean, hypaethral, abatjour, upaithric, canopus, cerulific and 40 more...
-
Archaeology
Words for shovelbums!
trowel, mattock, chopper, n-transform, c-transform, taphonomy, processual, post-processual, microarchaeology, site, horizon, battleship curve and 33 more...
-
BuffaloBen's Words
sycamore, wipfel, rohlingsspindel, gorgeous, flamboyance, anschmiegen, pengpeng, zuckerhut, revolver, troubleshooter, breeze, dandy and 228 more...
-
Latinate
lorem ipsum, citius, altius, fortius, curriculum vitae, bona fide, terra nullius, habeas corpus, quidnunc, voir dire, emeritus, quincunx and 99 more...
-
The Most Beautiful Words in the Engli...
mellifluous, obscure, star-crossed, undulating, solstice, messiah, audacious, solace, twilight, wanderlust, lovelorn, byzantine and 219 more...
-
The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
-
colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
-
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
-
NakedFringe's Words
masticate, chamber, orchid, mandolin, yellow, pomegranate, conundrum, paradox, gyrate, calamitous, opalescent, cacophony and 533 more...
-
words i love
mahogany, serenity, quell, requiem, parhelion, echo, surfacing, ethereal, melodic, vivid, sirenic, sprightly and 122 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for horizon.

zero Jan 17, 2007