equator
noun
Simple meaning
An imaginary line around the Earth forming the great circle that is equidistant from the north and south poles.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihkwayterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪkˈweɪtɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
geographyoften "the Equator"
An imaginary line around the Earth forming the great circle that is equidistant from the north and south poles
“The equator is the boundary between the northern and southern hemispheres.”
geographyoften "the Equator"
An imaginary great circle around Earth, equidistant from the two poles, and dividing earth's surface into the northern and southern hemispheres.
geographyoften "the Equator"
A circle dividing a sphere or other surface into two usually equal and symmetrical parts
astronomy
A similar great circle on any sphere, especially on a celestial body, or on another reasonably symmetrical three-dimensional body.
The midline of any generally spherical object, such as a fruit or vegetable, that has identifiable poles.
The celestial equator.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An imaginary line around the Earth forming the great circle that is equidistant from the north and south poles
Used this way, equator is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The equator is the boundary between the northern and southern hemispheres.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use equator
- “The equator is the boundary between the northern and southern hemispheres.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An imaginary line paralleling the equator where a magnetic needle has no dip.
The great circle on the celestial sphere midway between the celestial poles.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to or at an equator.
Any of the ocean currents that flow westward at the equator.
An equatorial current that flows west across the Pacific just north of the equator.
An equatorial current that flows west across the Pacific just south of the equator.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.