Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Equator |
EquatorNoun1. 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". 2. A circle dividing a sphere or other surface into two usually equal and symmetrical parts. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "equator" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
19th Century Satire | An imaginary line around the earth. Recently held by J. P. Morgan. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Aerospace | The primary great circle of a sphere or spheroid, such as the earth, perpendicular to the polar axis; or a line resembling or approximating such a circle.The terrestrial equator is 90° from the earth's geographical poles; the celestial equator or equinoctial is 90 ° from the celestial poles; the galactic equator or galactic circle is 90° from the galactic poles. The astronomical equator is a line connecting points having 0° astronomical latitude; the geodetic equator connects points having 0° geodetic latitude. The expression terrestrial equator is sometimes applied to the astronomical equator. The geodetic equator is shown on charts. A fictitious equator is a reference line serving as the origin for measurement of fictitious latitude. A transverse or inverse equator is a meridian the plane of which is perpendicular to the axis of a transverse projection. An oblique equator is a great circle the plane of which is perpendicular to the axis of an oblique projection. A grid equator is a line perpendicular to a prime grid meridian at the origin. The magnetic equator or aclinic line is that line on the surface of the earth connecting all points at which the magnetic dip is zero. The geomagnetic equator is the great circle 90° from the geomagnetic poles of the earth. (references) |
Science | An imaginary circle around the Earth halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole; the largest circumference of the Earth. (references) |
Space | An imaginary circle around a body which is everywhere equidistant from the poles, defining the boundary between the northern and southern hemispheres. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In geography, the equator is an imaginary line drawn around a planet, halfway between the poles, where the surface of the roughly spherical planet is parallel to the axis of rotation. The equator divides the surface into the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere. The latitude of the equator is 0 by definition. The length of Earth's equator is about 40070 km.
On the equator, the Sun is directly overhead at noon on the days of the equinox. Furthermore, every day is close to 12 hours long there. At night, all stars appear to trace out a half circle centered at the southernmost or northernmost point of the horizon.
Between the March and September equinox, the Earth's northern latitudes are inclined towards the Sun up to a point known as the Tropic of Cancer, the most northerly point where the Sun can be directly overhead. The most southerly equivalent reached between the September and March equinox is named the Tropic of Capricorn.
Seasons in the tropics and at the equator differ significantly from seasons in the temperate zones. In many tropical regions people identify two seasons, wet and dry. On the equator, seasons can vary depending on a variety of factors including elevation and proximity to an ocean.
Locations near the equator are good sites for potential spaceports or space elevators, as they are already moving faster than any other point on the Earth due to the Earth's rotation, and the added velocity reduces the amount of fuel needed to launch spacecraft. (See Kourou for an example).
The surface of the Earth at the equator is mainly ocean. Places crossed by the equator:
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Equator."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
EQUATOR | English | Environment for qualitative temporal reasoning | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Middle | Equidistance, bisection, half distance; equator, diaphragm, midriff; intermediate. |
World | Colures, equator, ecliptic, orbit. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Golden Equator (1956) Around the Equator on Roller Skates (1932) Paradise on the Equator (1991) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Launch EQUATOR Used for wiredrag work in Alaska in 1915. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | The joy of kissing the baby Equator crossing on NOAA Ship MOUNT MITCHELL. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Bad news for Pollywogs - an Equator crossing is imminent A 1985 crossing of the line on the MALCOLM BALDRIGE. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Hosing down an unworthy Pollywog Lieutenant Ray Moses catches the wrath of the almighty Shellbacks Crossing the Equator on the PIONEER. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Image #2 of sequence. SST anomalies in January were close to the highest observ ed during the most recent El Nino. There is little or no evidence of the equato rial cold tongue or of enhanced chlorophyll along the equator. Credit: Fisheries. |  | Image #3 of sequence. In sharp contrast, by July 1998, a dramatic recovery had taken place. There is a well-developed cold tongue and a dramatic bloom of phytoplankton along the equator. High chlorophyll concentrations had not previously been observed over such a large area. Credit: Fisheries. |
 | Pollywog following the time-honored tradition of "kissing the baby" during Equator crossing ceremony. After passing all the necessary tests, the pollywog will become a bona fide Shellback and able to initiate pollywogs during future Equator crossing ceremonies. On board the NOAA Ship DAVID STARR JORDAN. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | Pollywog paying homage to King Neptune during Equator crossing ceremony. After passing all the necessary tests, the pollywog will become a bona fide Shellback and able to initiate pollywogs during future ceremonies. Ceremony on NOAA Ship DAVID STARR JORDAN. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | TIROS II ready for launch. This satellite was launched on November 23, 1960. Launch vehicle was a Thor-Delta rocket that placed the satellite in an inclined orbit (50 degrees to Equator) at about 420 nautical miles. Cover of "Weather Bureau Topics" for November 1960. Credit: NOAA in Space. |  | NOAA 5 lifts off. This satellite weighed 749 pounds , entered a near circular polar orbit 939.89 by 934.98 statute miles above the Earth, orbited every 116.32 minutes, and was inclined to the equator at 102.105 degrees. In addition to visible and infra-red imaging systems, it also carried early search and rescue beacon equipment. Credit: NOAA in Space. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Infected areas in Africa lie in a band between the Sahara and the equator. (references) | |
Some UVA lamps generate greater than 5 times more UVA per unit time than solar UVA radiation reaching the Earth's surface at the Equator. (references) | ||
Economic History | Democratic Republic of Congo | Along the Equator, rainfall is fairly regular throughout the year. (references) |
Ghana | Ghana is located on West Africa's Gulf of Guinea only a few degrees north of the Equator. (references) | |
Ecuador | Ecuador is a country of 12.87 million inhabitants located on the equator in South America. (references) | |
Trade | Zambia | Equator Bank is also providing corporate banking in Zambia, under the ownership of Equator Bank USA. (references) |
Kenya | AGF managed by Kenya Equity Management, an affiliate of the U.S. owned Equator Bank, invests in the full range of productive businesses, including manufacturing, agriculture, finance and service industries. (references) | |
Travel | Cote D'ivoire | Côte d'Ivoire is less than five degrees from the equator and the sun is very intense. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Equator" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.92% of the time. "Equator" is used about 186 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.92% | 184 | 22,714 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.08% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 186 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| United Kingdom | Equator Group Plc |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "equator": astronomical equator ♦ at the equator ♦ celestial equator ♦ diagram on the plane of the celestial equator ♦ dip equator ♦ eccentric equator ♦ equator ecliptic horizon ♦ equator line ♦ Equator of a planet ♦ equator of crystalline lens ♦ Equator of the sun ♦ galactic equator ♦ magnetic equator. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "equator": equator-quiveringly, Equator-to-pole. | |
Ending with "equator": paleo-equator, pole-to-equator. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "equator"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | ekuator (line). (various references) | |
Arabic | خط الاستواء, خط الاعتدال. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | екватор (line). (various references) | |
Chinese | 赤" . (various references) | |
Czech | rovník (line). (various references) | |
Danish | tidsdiagram (diagram on the plane of the celestial equator, diagram on the plane of the equinoctial, time diagram), magnetisk aekvator (magnetic equator), magnetisk ækvator (aclinic line, dip equator, magnetic equator), linseækvator (equator of crystalline lens), himmelækvator (astronomical equator), galaktisk plan (plane of the galactic equator), galaktisk ækvator (galactic equator), ækvator lentis (equator of crystalline lens). (various references) | |
Dutch | evenaar (guide frame, spreader, swingle-tree, yoke), equator. (various references) | |
Esperanto | ekvatoro. (various references) | |
Farsi | ناحیه استواءی , خطاستوا, دایره استوا. (various references) | |
Finnish | päiväntasaaja. (various references) | |
French | équinoxiale, équateur. (various references) | |
Frisian | evener. (various references) | |
German | äquator, Äquator. (various references) | |
Greek | ισημερινόσ, ισημερινός. (various references) | |
Hebrew | משו" (equalizer), קו "משו", אקוטור. (various references) | |
Hungarian | ekvátor, egyenlítõ, egyenlítő. (various references) | |
Icelandic | miðjarðarlína. (various references) | |
Indonesian | katulistiwa. (various references) | |
Italian | equatore (line). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 赤" , 赤" . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | せきどう. (various references) | |
Korean | 도 (Equatorial). (various references) | |
Manx | Yn Meanchiarkyl (The Line), cryss ny cruinney. (various references) | |
Norwegian | ekvator. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | equatoray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | Equador (Ecuador). (various references) | |
Romanian | ecuator (line). (various references) | |
Russian | экватор. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | ekvator, polutar. (various references) | |
Spanish | ecuador (Ecuador). (various references) | |
Swazi | ín-khaba yelíve. (various references) | |
Swedish | ekvator. (various references) | |
Thai | เส้นศูนย์สูตร. (various references) | |
Turkish | ekvator (the line). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | екватор. (various references) | |
Welsh | cyhydedd. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "equator": equatorial, equators, equatorward. (additional references) | |
| |
"Equator" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: equador, equant, equat, equater, equatol, Equitor, Euenor, Eupator, Sekwalor, sequatur, Sequijor. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "equator" (pronounced ikwā"ter) |
| 4 | -w ā" t er | waiter. |
| 3 | -ā" t er | cater, crater, creator, curator, debater, deflator, dictator, Frater, freighter, gaiter, gator, grater, greater, hater, inflator, later, Pater, Plater, Prater, rater, skater, Slater, stater, straighter, traitor, translator, Viator, vindicator. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-o-q-r-t-u" | |
-1 letter: quarte, quarto, quatre, quoter, roquet, torque. | |
-2 letters: oater, orate, outer, outre, quare, quart, quate, quota, quote, roque, route, toque, urate. | |
-3 letters: aero, auto, euro, rate, rato, rota, rote, roue, rout, tare, taro, tear, toea, tora, tore, tour, true, urea. | |
-4 letters: are, art, ate, ear, eat, eau, era, eta, oar, oat, ora, ore, ort, our. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-o-q-r-t-u" | |
+1 letter: equators, paroquet, quaestor, quatorze, torquate. | |
+2 letters: paroquets, quaestors, quartzose, quatorzes. | |
+3 letters: equatorial, quaternion, quatrefoil. | |
+4 letters: equatorward, equivocator, forequarter, quaternions, quatrefoils, questionary, terraqueous. | |
+5 letters: equilibrator, equivocators, forequarters, quattrocento. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Names: Company Usage 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Abbreviations 14. Acronyms 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
