tropical year
noun
Simple meaning
The time that it takes for the Sun to return to the same position along the ecliptic.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
trahpihkuhlyirSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɹɑpɪkəlˈjɪɹ
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
The time that it takes for the Sun to return to the same position along the ecliptic, as viewed from the Earth, especially, completing a full cycle of seasons.
The time for the earth to make one revolution around the sun, measured between two vernal equinoxes
by extension
The time it takes for any astronomical object (such as a planet, dwarf planet, small Solar System body, or comet) in direct orbit around a star (such as the Sun) to make one revolution around the star, taking into account orbital precession.
in particular
A vernal equinox year; the time between two successive vernal equinoxes.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The time that it takes for the Sun to return to the same position along the ecliptic, as viewed from the Earth, especially, completing a full cycle of seasons.
Used this way, tropical year is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately 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.
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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.