aurora (n.)

"morning light, dawn," late 14c., from Latin Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, from PIE *ausus- "dawn," also the name of the Indo-European goddess of the dawn, from root *aus- (1) "to shine," especially of the dawn (source also of Greek ēōs "dawn").

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to aurora

aurora borealis (n.)

1620s, "Northern Lights," literally "northern dawn," said to have been coined by French philosopher Petrus Gassendus (1592-1655) after a spectacular display seen in France Sept. 2, 1621; see aurora + boreal. In northern Scotland and among sailors, sometimes called the dancers, pretty dancers, or merry dancers. Related: Aurora australis (1741).

auroral (adj.)

1550s, "pertaining to dawn," from aurora + -al (1). The meaning "of the color of dawn" is from 1827; the meaning "of the aurora borealis" is from 1828.

*aus- (1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shine," especially of the dawn. It forms all or part of: austral; Australia; Austria; Austro-; Aurora; east; Easter; eastern; eo-; Ostrogoth.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit usah "dawn;" Greek ēōs "dawn;" Latin Aurora "goddess of dawn," auster "south wind;" Lithuanian aušra "dawn;" Old English east "east."

Trends of aurora

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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sunset

"apparent descent of the sun below the horizon in evening," late 14c., from sun (n.) + set (v.). Perhaps a shortening of sun-setting, or perhaps taken from a Middle English subjunctive such as before the sun set. Old English had sunnansetlgong "sunset," while sunset meant "west."

dawn

c. 1200, dauen, "to become day, grow light in the morning," shortened or back-formed from dauinge, dauing "period between darkness and sunrise," (c. 1200), from Old English dagung, from dagian "to become day," from Proto-Germanic *dagaz "day" (source also of German tagen "to dawn

morning

"first part of the day" (technically from midnight to noon), late 14c., a contraction of mid-13c. morwenynge, moregeninge, from morn, morewen (see morn) + suffix -ing, on pattern of evening. Originally the time just before sunrise. As an adjective from 1530s; as a greeting by 184

northern

Northern lights "aurora borealis" is recorded by that name by 1721 (earlier north-light, 1706)....

meteor

Atmospheric phenomena were formerly classified as aerial meteors (wind), aqueous meteors (rain, snow, hail), luminous meteors (aurora...

austral

Or perhaps the connection is more ancient, and from PIE root *aus- "to shine," source of aurora, which also produces words...

Orion

distinctive pattern, late 14c., orioun, ultimately from Greek Oriōn, Oariōn, name of a giant hunter in Greek mythology, loved by Aurora...

wand

c. 1200, from Old Norse vondr "rod, switch" (cognate with Gothic wandus "rod," Middle Swedish vander), from Proto-Germanic *wend- "to turn," see wind (v.1)). The notion is of a bending, flexible stick. Compare cognate Old Norse veggr, Old English wag "wall," Old Saxon, Dutch wand

hour

c. 1200, "divine office prescribed for each of the seven canonical hours; the daily service at the canonical hours;" c. 1300, "time of day appointed for prayer, one of the seven canonical hours," from Old French ore, hore "canonical hour; one-twelfth of a day" (sunrise to sunset)

first

Old English fyrst "foremost, going before all others; chief, principal," also (though rarely) as an adverb, "at first, originally," superlative of fore; from Proto-Germanic *furista- "foremost" (source also of Old Saxon fuirst "first," Old High German furist, Old Norse fyrstr, Da

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updated on October 29, 2018

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Dictionary entries near aurora

auricle

auricular

auriferous

Auriga

aurochs

aurora

aurora borealis

auroral

*aus-

auscultate

auscultation