sun dog
/ˈsʌn dɒɡ/US/ˈsʌn ˌdɔɡ/
sun dog noun: a bright spot in the sky, usually one of two on a parhelic circle on both sides of the sun (or occasionally above and below it), caused by the refraction of the sun's image through ice crystals.
Noun
sun dog (plural sun dogs)
- A bright spot in the sky, usually one of two on a parhelic circle on both sides of the sun (or occasionally above and below it), caused by the refraction of the sun's image through ice crystals.
- December […] the 28th [1714], the Sun being an Hour high, appeared a Sun-Dog or Parhelion, the Sky full of flying Clouds.1749, Thomas Short, A General Chronological History of the Air, Weather, Seasons, Meteors, &c. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Longman, […]; and A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 474
- Sun-dogs, called Mock Suns, becauſe they reſemble the ſun, are tvvo ſpots that frequently appear in a cloud vvhen the ſun ſhines through it, and vvhen he is about 15 to 20 degrees above the horizon. […] One is ſituated on the north, and the other on the ſouth ſide of the ſun. The refraction and...1791, Samuel Stearns, “Of the Cause of the Rain-bow, Meteors, Sun-dogs, Jack-with-a-lanthorn, Hurricanes, Trade-winds, Monsoons, Whirlwinds, Water-spouts, Clouds, Rain, Hail, Snow, Frost, Mist, Fog...
sun dog meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Arabic
sun dog in Urdu
- bright spot in the sky caused by the refraction of the sun’s image through ice crystals
- آفتاب کاذب
sun dog in Bengali
- bright spot in the sky caused by the refraction of the sun’s image through ice crystals
- মায়া সূর্য maẏa śurjo
sun dog in Malayalam
- bright spot in the sky caused by the refraction of the sun’s image through ice crystals
- സൺ ഡോഗ്സ് saṇ ḍōgsŭ
sun dog in Arabic
- bright spot in the sky caused by the refraction of the sun’s image through ice crystals
- شمس كاذبة
More languagesFewer languages
- sun dog in Indonesian
- parhelion
- sun dog in Persian
- خورشید کاذب xoršid-e kâzeb, خورشید مجازی, عکس خورشید, پیراخورشید
- sun dog in Vietnamese
- mặt trời giả, mặt trời ma
Examples of sun dog in a sentence
- A sun dog on each side of the sun foretell a bad storm in the night.1935, Harry Middleton Hyatt, “Weather”, in Folk-lore from Adams County Illinois, New York, N.Y.: Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foundation...
- Some videos seem to show sun dogs jumping around. […] No one is sure what causes these "jumping" sun dogs.2017, Suzanne Garbe, “Sun Dogs”, in The Science behind Wonders of the Sun: Sun Dogs, Lunar Eclipses and Green Flash, Oxford, Oxfordshire...
Synonyms of sun dog
Forms of sun dog
| plural | sun dogs |
|---|---|
| alternative form | sundog |
| alternative form | sun-dog |
Origin of sun dog
PIE word *sóh₂wl̥ From sun + dog (“(figurative) a visible atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon”) ; metaphorically refers to the bright spots of light that appear to "dog" or follow the real sun, much like a dog follows its owner.
Questions about sun dog
- What does sun dog mean?
- Sun dog means a bright spot in the sky, usually one of two on a parhelic circle on both sides of the sun (or occasionally above and below it), caused by the refraction of the sun's image through ice crystals.
- What is sun dog in Urdu?
- Sun dog in Urdu is آفتاب کاذب. See Sun dog meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use sun dog in a sentence?
- A sun dog on each side of the sun foretell a bad storm in the night.
- What part of speech is sun dog?
- Sun dog is a noun.
- How do you pronounce sun dog?
- Sun dog is pronounced /ˈsʌn dɒɡ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sun dog?
- The plural of sun dog is sun dogs.
Words near sun dog in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sun dog (page history and authors). 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-sun dog.wav.
Cite this entry: “sun dog.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sun_dog. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.