equinoctials

Noun

equinoctial (plural equinoctials)

1. The great circle midway between the celestial poles; the celestial equator.
   • The scorching beams under the equinoctial, or extremity of cold within the circle Arctic, […] cannot avoid or expel this heat, fury, and rage of mortal men.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III...
2. (rare) The terrestrial equator.
   • Nor is this vveather rare about the Æquinoctiall; by Mariners termed the Tornadoes: and tis ſo vncertaine, that novv you ſhall haue a quiet breath and gale, and ſuddenly an vnexpected violent guſt, and ſtorme, ſo fierce, that many times the ſhips vvill feele no helme.1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “An Itinerarie of Some Yeares Trauaile, through Diuers Parts of Asia and Afrike, with the Description of the Orientall Indies, and Some Iles Adjacent. Especially the...
3. An equinoctial gale.
   • Heavy with storm the coast-lines grew, / And sharp the equinoctials blew1868, The Family Herald: A Domestic Magazine of Useful Information and Amusement, page 209

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