tropic

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Either of the two parallels of latitude 23°26′ north and south of the equator; the farthest points at which the sun can be directly overhead; the boundaries of the torrid zone or tropics.
  2. The component of tone or rhetoric in a sentence.
adj
  1. Of, or relating to the tropics; tropical.
  2. Hot and humid.
  3. Having the quality of indirectly inducing a biological or chemical change in a system or substrate.
  4. Pertaining to, involving, or of the nature of a trope or tropes.
noun
  1. Alternative form of tropic (one of two specific lines of latitude that divide the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively; the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn).

Pronunciation

/ˈtɹɒpɪk/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tropic.wav

Word forms

tropic tropics trop. tropick more tropic most tropic

Etymology

From Late Latin tropicus (“of or pertaining to the solstice, as a noun, one of the tropics”), from Ancient Greek τροπικός (tropikós, “of or pertaining to a turn or change; or the solstice; or a trope or figure; tropic; tropical; etc.”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”).

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.