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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Ecliptic

E-clip'tic, n.

noun

n. [Fr. écliptique, f., Lat. linea ecliptica. See infra.]

  1. (Astron.) A great circle of the sphere, conceived to be drawn through the middle of the zodiac, making an angle with the equinoctial of about 23° 28'. It is the apparent path of the sun, or the real path of the earth as seen from the sun.
  2. (Geog.) A great circle on the terrestrial globe, answering to, and falling within, the plane of the celestial ecliptic.

E-clip'tic, a.

adjective

a. [Fr. écliptique, Lat. eclipticus, Gr. ἐκλειπτικός, belonging to an eclipse. See ECLIPSE.] 1. Pertaining to, or described by, the ecliptic. “The bright ecliptic road.” Thomson.

Sense 2. Pertaining to an eclipse or to eclipses.

Ecliptic limit, lunar (Astron.), the space of 12° on the moon’s orbit from the node, within which, if the moon happens to be at full, it will be eclipsed.—Ecliptic limit, solar, the space of 12° from the lunar node, within which, if a conjunction of the sun and moon occur, the sun will be eclipsed.