tropic: [14] The etymological notion underlying the word tropic is of ‘turning’, and the reason for its application to the hot regions of the world is that the two lines of latitude which bound them (the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn) mark the points at which the sun reaches its zenith at the solstices and then ‘turns’ back. The word comes via Latin tropicus from Greek tropikós, a derivative of tropé ‘turning’ (source also of English trophy and related to the second syllable of contrive). => contrive, trophy, troubadour
tropic (n.)
late 14c., "either of the two circles in the celestial sphere which describe the northernmost and southernmost points of the ecliptic," from Late Latin tropicus "of or pertaining to the solstice" (as a noun, "one of the tropics"), from Latin tropicus "pertaining to a turn," from Greek tropikos "of or pertaining to a turn or change; of or pertaining to the solstice" (as a noun, "the solstice," short for tropikos kyklos), from trope "a turning" (see trope).
The notion is of the point at which the sun "turns back" after reaching its northernmost or southernmost point in the sky. Extended 1520s to the corresponding latitudes on the earth's surface (23 degrees 28 minutes north and south); meaning "region between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn" is from 1837.
实用例句
1. From her mother she inherited warmth of nature and dusky, semi - tropic beauty.
她从母亲那儿秉承了热情的性格和亚热带的那种皮肤微黑的美.
来自辞典例句
2. Face west, all you plump old men, and ponder your tropic fates.
退休老人们啊, 面向西方, 为你们那莫测的祸福祈祷吧.
来自辞典例句
3. She sorted out her things for tropic travel.
她整理热带旅行的东西.
来自辞典例句
4. The Tropic of Cancer is the most northerly latitude in the Northern Hemisphere.
在北半球,北回归线的纬度最高.
来自辞典例句
5. South bay island Be located in semi - tropical, Tropic of Cancer is traversed.
