acronical
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Ancient Greek ἄκρονυξ (ákronux, “nightfall”), one of the three poetic times for the rising and setting of stars, along with cosmical and heliacal.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
acronical (not comparable)
- (astronomy) Alternative form of acronycal
- 1829, William Field, An introduction to the use of the globes Fifth edition, page 134:
- Bring the star again to the eastern and western parts of the horizon—observe the two points of the ecliptic then on the western edge of the horizon—and the two corresponding days, will be the days of the star's acronical rising and setting.
- 1947, Constance Helmericks, Harmon Helmericks, We Live in the Arctic, page 259:
- The moon in arctic regions is not acronical, as astronomers say; it does not rise at sunset or set at sunrise.
- 1970, New World Antiquity, page 53:
- Due to the revolution of the earth, heliacal and acronical phenomena are separated by six months of time for a given star.
- 2012, William Tyler Olcott, Star Lore: Myths, Legends, and Facts, →ISBN, page 415:
- The heliacal rising of this star group, that is its rising with the sun, heralded the summer season, while its acronical rising, when it rose as the sun set, marked the beginning of winter, and led to the association of the group with the rainy season, and with floods, so often mentioned by the poets.
- Occurring at sunset.
- 1940, Osbert Sitwell, Escape with me!: An oriental sketch-book, page 307:
- Some sounds, such as the cries of the sellers of water in summer and charcoal in winter, persist, hour in and hour out, for the whole twenty-four, and form a background for the different acronical clamour that now rises.
- 1974, Robert Sterling Yard, The Living Wilderness:
- In examining the esthetic importance of the wilderness I will not engage in the unprofitable task of evaluating the preciousness of different sorts of beauty, as, for instance, whether an acronical view over the Grand Canyon is worth more than the Apollo of Praxiteles.
- 1987, Shelby Foote, Tournament, →ISBN, page 231:
- There was a faint rose acronical glow high in the room, the beginning of twilight.
- Occurring at the end of life.
- 1993, Genaro M. Padilla, My History, Not Yours: The Formation of Mexican American Autobiography, →ISBN:
- "Una vieja y sus re- cuerdos" is the acronical story of a woman reputedly 139 years of age when she related her life's work as partera (midwife), cocinera principal (head cook), and llavera (keeper of the keys) as well as duena (supervisor) of various shops at San Gabriel mission in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Antonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
- (of, related to, or occurring in the evening): vespertine
See also[edit]
- (of, related to, or occurring during twilight): crepuscular
- (of, related to, or occurring around the Sun): heliacal
- (of, related to, or occurring in the early morning): matutine