aurora

 
Pronunciation: /ɔːˈrɔːrə/

noun (plural auroras or aurorae /-riː/)

  • 1a natural electrical phenomenon characterized by the appearance of streamers of reddish or greenish light in the sky, especially near the northern or southern magnetic pole. The effect is caused by the interaction of charged particles from the sun with atoms in the upper atmosphere. In northern and southern regions it is respectively called aurora borealis or Northern Lights and aurora australis or Southern Lights.
    [borealis from Latin, 'northern', based on Greek Boreas, the god of the north wind; australis from Latin, 'southern', from Auster 'the south, the south wind']
  • 2 literary the dawn.

Derivatives

auroral

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English (originally in aurora (sense 2)): from Latin, 'dawn, goddess of the dawn'. aurora (sense 1) dates from the early 18th century