Word.ws English Dictionary

aurora

Syllables: au·ror·a/əˈɹɔː.ɹə//əˈɹɔɹ.ə/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

aurora noun: an atmospheric phenomenon created by charged particles from the sun striking the upper atmosphere, creating coloured lights in the sky. It is usually named australis or borealis based on whether it is in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere respectively.

aurora: an atmospheric phenomenon created by charged particles from the sun striking the upper atmosphere,...
Image: United States Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

aurora (plural auroras or aurorae)

  1. An atmospheric phenomenon created by charged particles from the sun striking the upper atmosphere, creating coloured lights in the sky. It is usually named australis or borealis based on whether it is in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere respectively.
    • On the evening of our arrival at Muka I observed what appeared like a display of Aurora Borealis, though I could hardly believe that this was possible at a point a little south of the equator. The night was clear and calm, and the northern sky presented a diffused light, with a constant succession...1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 354
    Synonyms:
    chasma, polar light
  2. The Roman goddess of the dawn, equivalent to the Greek Ἠώς (Ēṓs).
  3. The dawn or early morning light itself; the first light of day.
    Synonyms:
    dawn, daybreak, sunrise

Proper noun capitalized: Aurora

Aurora

  1. (Roman) Roman goddess of the dawn; equivalent of the Greek Eos. Sister of Luna and Sol.
    • As faire Aurora in her purple pall, / Out of the East the dawning day doth call […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 16
  2. A female given name from Latin, in regular use since the 19th century.
    • How will they know! Why, my name is all over them: my silly, unhappy name. Oh, if I had only been christened Mary Jane, or Gladys, Muriel, or Beatrice, or Francesca, or Guinevere, or something quite common. But Aurora! Aurora! I'm the only Aurora in London; and everybody knows it. I believe I'm the...1904, George Bernard Shaw, How He Lied to Her Husband
  3. 94 Aurora, a main belt asteroid.
  4. the Russian cruiser Aurora, a cruiser of Soviet Navy.
  5. (poetic) the dawn
  6. A town in Ontario, Canada; named for the goddess.
  7. A town in the Western Cape, South Africa; named for the goddess.
  8. A town in Suriname.
  9. A province of Central Luzon, Luzon, Philippines; named after First Lady Aurora Quezon. Capital: Baler.
  10. A suburb of Melbourne, Australia.
  11. A historical district of Turin, Italy.
  12. A municipality of Ceará.
Show 33 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A municipality of Santa Catarina.
  2. A municipality of Isabela.
  3. A municipality of Zamboanga del Sur; named after Aurora Quezon.
  4. An unincorporated community in Arkansas.
  5. An unincorporated community in California.
  6. A large city in Arapahoe County, Adams County and Douglas County, Colorado; named for the goddess.
    • “Based on our initial investigative work, we believe reports of TdA influence in Aurora are isolated, police said in an August 28 statement.2024 September 11, Caitlin Stephen Hu, Rafael Romo and Belisa Morillo, “How an empty apartment complex in Colorado became a national battleground over immigration”, in CNN
  7. A city mainly in DuPage County and Kane County, Illinois, and suburb of Chicago; named for the goddess.
  8. A city in Indiana; named for the goddess.
  9. A city in Iowa; named for the village of East Aurora, New York.
  10. A city in Kansas; named for the city in Illinois.
  11. An unincorporated community in Kentucky.
  12. A neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana.
  13. A rural town in Hancock County, Maine; named for the goddess.
  14. A city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota.
  15. A city in Missouri; named for the goddess.
  16. A city, the county seat of Hamilton County, Nebraska; named for the city in Illinois.
  17. A ghost town in Nevada; named for the goddess.
  18. A village in the town of Ledyard, Cayuga County, New York.
  19. A town in Erie County, New York.
  20. A town in North Carolina.
  21. A city in Ohio.
  22. A city in Oregon; named for the daughter of the founder, Prussian-American mystic William Keil.
  23. A town in South Dakota; named for the city in Illinois.
  24. A city in Texas.
  25. A city in Utah; named for the aurora borealis seen in the area.
  26. A census-designated place in West Virginia.
  27. A town in Florence County, Wisconsin.
  28. A town in Waushara County, Wisconsin.
  29. A town in Taylor County, Wisconsin.
  30. An unincorporated community in Washington County, Wisconsin.
  31. A ghost town in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
  32. (historical) Maewo (an island of Vanuatu).
  33. (historical) Makatea (an island of French Polynesia).

aurora meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

aurora in Hindi

अरोरा, औरोरा, ऑरोरा

aurora in Tamil

துருவ ஒளி, துருவ மின்னொளி, துருவமுனைச்சோதி, அடர்ந்த மஞ்சட் சிவப்புநிறம், துருவமின்னொளி, இதனை வடதுருவ விண்ணொளி என்றும்

aurora in Marathi

अरोरा, ऑरोरा, औरोरा

aurora in Urdu

شفق
More languagesFewer languages
aurora in Bengali
ঊষা, ভোরের আলো
aurora in Telugu
అరోరా, ఆరోరా, ఔరోరా
aurora in Malayalam
അറോറ, ഔറോറ
aurora in Kannada
ಸುಸಿಲು, ಮುಂಬೆಳಗು, ಉದಯರಾಗ
aurora in Punjabi
ਔਰੋਰਾ
aurora in Gujarati
અરોરા, ઓરોરા, ઔરોરા
aurora in Odia
ଅରୋରା, ଔରୋରା
aurora in Nepali
अरोरा
aurora in Arabic
شَفَق قُطْبِيّ šafaq quṭbiyy
aurora in Persian
ارورا ororâ, شفق قطبی šafaq-e qotbi, اوشه uše
aurora in Thai
ออโรรา ɔɔ-roo-râa
aurora in Vietnamese
cực quang

Synonyms of aurora

All synonyms of aurora

Forms of aurora

pluralauroras
pluralaurorae

Plural of aurora: auroras or aurorae

Origin of aurora

Borrowed from Latin aurōra (“dawn”). Doublet of Eos.

Ultimately from Latin Aurōra. The Philippine placenames were named after First Lady Aurora Quezon, the wife of Pres. Manuel Quezon, the 2nd president of the Philippines.

Words formed from aurora

Phrases with aurora

Words that rhyme with aurora

13 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about aurora

What does aurora mean?
Aurora means an atmospheric phenomenon created by charged particles from the sun striking the upper atmosphere, creating coloured lights in the sky. It is usually named australis or borealis based on whether it is in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere respectively.
What is aurora in Hindi?
Aurora in Hindi is अरोरा, औरोरा, ऑरोरा. See Aurora meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is aurora?
Aurora can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce aurora?
Aurora is pronounced /əˈɹɔː.ɹə/ (UK).
What is the plural of aurora?
The plural of aurora is auroras.

Words near aurora in the dictionary

  1. aurone
  2. aurones
  3. auropalpebral
  4. aurophilic
  5. aurophobia
  6. aurora
  7. aurora australis
  8. aurora austrealis
  9. aurora bluetail
  10. aurora bluetails
  11. aurora borealis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: aurora (page history and authors); Aurora (page history and authors); aurora (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); aurora (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aurora (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); aurora (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aurora (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aurora (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); aurora (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); aurora (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aurora (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); aurora (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); aurora (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); aurora (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-aurora.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-Aurora.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mlgc1998-Aurora.wav.

Cite this entry: “aurora.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aurora. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.