solstice

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   either of the two annual times when the sun reaches its greatest apparent distance north or south of the celestial equator, producing the longest or shortest day

   The northern winter solstice usually falls on December 21 or 22.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Solstice entered English in the Middle Ages. It combines the Latin root sol ‘sun’, also the source of solar, with Latin sistere ‘to stop’.

From Middle English solstice, through Old French from Latin solstitium, literally 'sun-standing.' The Latin combines sol, 'sun,' with a form of sistere, 'to cause to stand,' because the sun's noon position appears briefly to stop moving north or south.

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