equator

UK/ɪˈkweɪ.tə/US/ɪˈkweɪ.tɚ/

nounB1+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,941 of 15,258leans written

The equator is the imaginary line around the Earth's middle. Cross the equator, on the equator, near the equator.

It is halfway between the poles and the widest line round the planet, so a point on it is moving fastest as the Earth turns — which is why rockets launch eastward from as close to it as possible. Day and night are near enough equal there all year.

Definitions of equator

1nounequatorThe imaginary line around the Earth's middle.B1+
“It's hot all year round in Singapore because it's so close to the equator.”

equator is a line.

Where it comes from

Medieval Latin circulus aequator, the circle that equalises, from aequare, to make equal.

Latin
(circulus) aequator (diei et noctis)
English, today
equator

From Latin (circulus) aequator (diei et noctis).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Science & Space

Practise this word

equator in the wild

A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south.
Equinox
An equinox is defined as the time when the plane of Earth's equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun's disk.
Equinox
Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east-west as circles parallel to the equator.
Latitude
The celestial equator is the great circle of the imaginary celestial sphere on the same plane as the equator of a planet, by convention generally Earth.
Celestial equator
As the observer moves north (or south), the celestial equator tilts towards the opposite horizon.
Celestial equator

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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