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sun(2) (iou)



sun noun1.
[Old English sunne (fem.) = Old Frisian sunne, Old Saxon, Old High German sunna (Dutch zon, German Sonne), Old Norse (poet.) sunna, Gothic sunno, beside Old English sunna (masc.), Old High German, Old Saxon sunno, from Germanic word from Indo-European word rel. to Greek helios, Latin sol, Old English sol, Old Norse sol.]
The large bright spherical object which is seen to pass across the sky each day from east to west, and which is the chief source of natural light and heat on earth, being in astronomical terms a star around which the earth revolves once in a year. OE.
Hobbes Yclad in Armour shining like the Sun. J. Silk The possible collision of a comet with the sun.
b. A luminary; esp. a star in the universe, whether orbited by planets or not. LME.
Milton Other Suns perhaps With thir attendant Moons thou wilt descrie.
fig. A person or thing regarded as a representative or source of glory, radiance, inspiration, etc. Chiefly poet. OE.
Sir W. Scott When the sun of my prosperity began to arise.
The direct rays of the sun, sunlight, sunshine; warmth or light received from the sun. OE.
N. Coward Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. J. Frame Happy lolling around in the sun all year. S. Miller The sun was streaming in and dust motes swam..in the hot light.
The sun as visible (freq. with ref. to the place reached in its daily cycle) at a particular time or place. Also (chiefly poet.), a climate as determined by the sun. LME.
Byron With just enough of life to see My last of suns go down on me. E. Waugh A breeze..blowing from the heat of the setting sun. M. Hocking The sun had come out..fine and warm.
a. Sunrise or sunset as determining the period of a day. Freq. in between sun and sun, from sun and sun. arch. LME.
b. A day. poet. or rhet. E17.
c. A year. poet. M18.
= PARHELION 1. LME.
A representation of or object resembling the sun, esp. as surrounded by rays; Heraldry an image of the sun with (freq. alternate straight and wavy) rays and usu. a human face (also sun in his splendour, sun in splendour). LME.
b. A kind of circular firework. M18.
In Heraldry, the tincture or in the fanciful blazon of arms of sovereign princes. In Alchemy, the metal gold. LME-M17.
Phrases: against the sun (chiefly Nautical) against the direction of the sun's apparent diurnal movement; from right to left, from west to east, anticlockwise. beneath the sun = under the sun below. have been in the sun, have the sun in one's eyes slang be drunk. land of the midnight sun: see LAND noun1. land of the rising sun: see LAND noun1. make hay while the sun shines: see HAY noun1. mean sun: see MEAN adjective2. MIDNIGHT sun. one's sun is set the time of one's prosperity, success, etc., is over. on which the sun never sets (of an empire, orig. the Spanish and later the British) worldwide. place in the sun one's share of good fortune, prosperity, etc.; a favourable situation or position, prominence. raisins of the sun: see RAISIN. rise with the sun get up out of bed very early. rising sun poet. the east. setting sun poet. the west. shoot the sun Nautical = take the sun below. sun in his splendour, sun in splendour: see sense 7 above. take the sun Nautical ascertain the altitude of the sun with a sextant in order to fix the latitude. under the sun on earth, in the world, in existence. when the sun is over the YARD-ARM. with the sun (chiefly Nautical) in the direction of the sun's apparent diurnal movement; from left to right; from east to west, clockwise.
Attrib. & comb.: In the sense 'serving for protection against the sun, used to keep sunlight off', as sun awning, sun canopy, etc.; 'giving maximum access to the sun, used or worn for sunbathing', as sun balcony, sun porch, sun top, etc. Special combs., as sun-and-planet gear, sun-and-planet wheels a form of epicyclic gear consisting of a central wheel around which one or more outer wheels travel; sun arc Cinematography an arc lamp used to simulate sunlight in film production; sunbake verb intrans. (Austral.) sunbathe (freq. as sunbaking verbal noun); sun-baked adjective dried, hardened, or baked by exposure to the sun; sun-bath a period of exposing the body to the sun, orig. as a method of medical treatment; sunbathe verb & noun (a) verb intrans. lie or bask in the sun, esp. to tan the body; (b) noun an act or spell of sunbathing; sun-bathed adjective bathed in sunshine; sunbather a sunbathing person; sun bear (a) a small bear, Helarctos malayanus, of SE Asia, having short dark fur with pale markings on the muzzle and breast; (b) rare the Himalayan black bear, Selenarctos thibetanus; sunbed (a) a lightweight, usu. folding, bed or couch used for sunbathing etc.; (b) a bed for lying on under a sun-lamp; sunbelt a strip of territory receiving a high amount of sunshine, esp. (usu. Sun) the zone consisting of the most southerly states of the US, extending from California to the Carolinas; sun bittern a S. American bird of forest streams, Eurypyga helias, with strongly patterned brown and white plumage, sole member of the family Eurypygidae; sun-blind a window awning; sunblock a cream or lotion rubbed on to protect the skin from sunlight and prevent sunburn; sun-bonnet a light bonnet covering the neck and shading the face from the sun, esp. for children; sunbow (chiefly poet.) an arch of prismatic colours like a rainbow, formed by refraction of sunlight in spray or vapour; sunbreak (a) a burst of sunshine; (b) sunrise; (c) = BRISE-SOLEIL; sun-bright adjective (chiefly poet.) (a) bright as the sun, very bright; (b) bright with sunshine; sun club a club or resort for sunbathers or naturists; sun compass a navigational device for finding true north from the observed direction of the sun; sun-crack Geology a crack produced by the heat of the sun during the consolidation of a rock; sun-cream = SUNTAN cream; sun-cure noun & verb (a) noun a period of rest or treatment involving exposure to the sun's rays; (b) verb trans. cure or preserve (food) by exposure to the sun; sun-dance a dance, accompanied by rites of self-torture, practised in honour of the sun by certain N. American Indian peoples; sun-deck (a) the upper deck of a steamer; (b) N. Amer. a terrace or balcony situated so as to catch the sun; sundial an instrument or structure showing the time of day by the shadow of a pointer cast by the sun on a disc or dial marked to indicate the hours; sun-disc the disc of the sun; a usu. winged image of this emblematic of the sun-god; sun-dog = PARHELION; sun-drenched adjective illuminated by sunshine; having (typically) very sunny weather; sun-dress a sleeveless dress with a low neck and back, worn in sunny weather; sundrops any day-flowering plant of the genus Oenothera (see OENOTHERA), esp. O. fruticosa (cf. EVENING primrose); sunfall (chiefly poet. & rhet.) sunset; sunfast adjective (US, of dye) not subject to fading by sunlight; sun filter = sunscreen (b) below; sun furnace = solar furnace s.v. SOLAR adjective1; sungazer a large girdle-tailed lizard, Cordylus giganteus, which is covered with large spiny scales and is found in southern Africa; sun gear = sun wheel (a) below; sungem a brilliantly coloured Brazilian hummingbird, Heliactin cornuta, having tufts of feathers on the sides of the head (also horned sungem); sunglass (a) a lens for concentrating the rays of the sun, a burning-glass; (b) in pl., spectacles with tinted lenses for protecting the eyes from sunlight or glare, dark glasses; sun-god, sun-goddess the sun worshipped or personified as a god or goddess; a god or goddess identified or specially associated with the sun; sun-grazer Astronomy a comet whose orbit passes close to the sun; sun-grazing adjective that is a sun-grazer; sungrebe a finfoot; esp. the S. American Heliornis fulica; Sun Gun Cinematography (proprietary name for) a portable incandescent lamp; sun-hat a usu. broad-brimmed hat worn to protect the head from the sun; sun-helmet a helmet of cork etc. formerly worn by white people in the tropics; Sun King an epithet of Louis XIV of France; sun-kissed adjective warmed, browned, or affected by the sun; sun-lamp (a) an electric lamp emitting radiation similar to that of sunlight; now esp. one producing ultraviolet light to give an artificial suntan, for therapy, etc.; (b) Cinematography a large lamp with a parabolic reflector, used in film-making; sun lotion = SUNTAN lotion; sun lounge (a) a room with large windows to admit the maximum amount of sunlight; (b) US = sunbed (a) above; sun-lounger = sunbed (a) above; sun-oil = SUNTAN oil; sun-painting (chiefly Hist.) a sun-print; sun-printing; sun parlour US = sun lounge (a) above; sun-perch = SUNFISH noun 1; sun-picture (chiefly Hist.) a photograph; sun plant a purslane of tropical S. America, Portulaca grandiflora, grown for its large brightly coloured flowers; sun-print noun & verb (Photography, chiefly Hist.) (a) noun a print made from a negative by means of sunlight; (b) verb trans. & intrans. make a sun-print (of); sun-ray (a) (chiefly poet. & rhet.) a ray of sunlight, a sunbeam; (b) an artificial ultraviolet ray used for medical or cosmetic treatment (esp. in sun-ray lamp); (c) sun-ray pleating, sun-ray pleats, widening pleats radiating out from a skirt's waistband; sun-roof (a) a sliding or hinged panel or a covered opening in the roof of a car, able to be opened to admit sunlight; (b) a part of a house roof suitable for sunbathing; sun-rose (chiefly Horticulture) = HELIANTHEMUM (cf. rock rose (a) s.v. ROCK noun1); sun-scald [SCALD noun2] (a) damage to plant tissue, esp. bark or fruit, caused by exposure to excessive sunlight; (b) a patch of bright sunlight on the surface of water; sun-scorch = sun-scald above; sun-scorpion = SOLIFUGID; sunscreen (a) a screen giving protection against the sun; (b) a cream or lotion rubbed on to screen the skin from ultraviolet rays and prevent sunburn; sun-seeker (a) Astronautics a photoelectric device used in satellites and spacecraft which maintains its orientation with respect to the sun and is used for navigation and to direct instruments; (b) a person seeking a sunny place in which to holiday or live; sunshade (a) an awning; (b) a parasol; (c) a hood or visor fixed on a hat etc. to keep the sun from the face; a broad-brimmed hat; (d) in pl. sunglasses; sun-shaft a shaft of sunlight, a sunbeam; sun sign Astrology a person's birth-sign; sunspace N. Amer. a room or area in a building having a glass roof and walls and intended to maximize the power of the sun's rays; sunspecs colloq. sunglasses; sun-spider = SOLIFUGID; sun-spring arch. sunrise; sun spurge a European spurge, Euphorbia helioscopia, common as a weed, having umbels subtended by yellow-tinged obovate leaves; sun squirrel any of various African squirrels of the genus Heliosciurus, that typically have a ringed tail and are noted for basking in the sun, which often causes bleaching of the fur; sunstar a starfish having numerous rays, esp. one of the genus Solaster; sun-stricken adjective [after sunstroke] affected with sunstroke; sunstroke sudden acute illness with collapse or prostration caused by the excessive heat of the sun; sunstruck adjective [after sunstroke] affected with sunstroke; sun-suit a light play-suit worn for sunbathing etc., freq. by children; suntrap a place or area sheltered from the wind and suitable for catching sunshine; sun visor a projecting shield on a cap or a fixed or hinged screen at the top of a vehicle windscreen, to shade the eyes from bright sunshine; sun wheel (a) the central wheel in a sun-and-planet gear; (b) a wheel-like figure with radiating arms or spokes, symbolic of the sun. See also SUNDEW, SUNFLOWER.
sunlet noun a little sun M19.
sunlike adjective resembling (that of) the sun; characteristic of the sun, esp. very bright or resplendent: L16.