tropic
29
4.3
- noun
- /ˈtrɑpɪk/
:
trópico
- Traveling north from the equator, you will cross the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees latitude.
- tropics and subtropics
- humid tropics
- lowland tropics
It was the length of the Tropic of Cancer, I believe.
- It was the length of the Tropic of Cancer, I believe.
Examples
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The Tropic of Capricorn marks the southern limit of the sun's zenith in summer.
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Winter in the tropics, spring in New York.
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In the last few decades, human impact in the tropics has reached unprecedented levels.
Academic text (1992) -
Do you know how many diseases there are in the tropics?
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I'm flying to the tropics.
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I don't like the tropics any more than you do, OK?
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Nothing a year in the tropics wouldn't fix!
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It's the tropics, everybody goes to pieces in the tropics.
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In many parts of the tropics, hunting is now the biggest threat to tropical biodiversity.
Academic text (2011) -
In some parts of the world, notably the tropics, birds that use silk are abundant.
Academic text (1994)
Synonyms
1
4.4
An imaginary line around the Earth about 23 degrees north of the Equator where the sun can be directly overhead
An imaginary line about 23 degrees south of the equator that marks the southern edge of the tropics
Compounds
1
4.4
An imaginary line around the Earth about 23 degrees north of the Equator where the sun can be directly overhead
A mostly white sea bird with webbed feet and long tail feathers that lives in warm seas far from land
An imaginary line about 23 degrees south of the equator that marks the southern edge of the tropics
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tropic comes from the Greek root trop-, which means 'turn'. The two lines called the tropics mark the places where the sun reaches its furthest north or south in the year and then seems to 'turn' back, so the name points to the exact latitudes where the sun can be directly overhead.