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more about halo
halo |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Halo \Ha"lo\, n.; pl {Halos}(?). [L. halos, acc. halo, Gr ? a thrashing floor, also (from its round shape) the disk of the sun or moon, and later a halo round it cf Gr ? to enfold, ? to roll round, L. volvere and E. voluble.] 1. A luminous circle, usually prismatically colored, round the sun or moon, and supposed to be caused by the refraction of light through crystals of ice in the atmosphere. Connected with halos there are often white bands, crosses, or arches, resulting from the same atmospheric conditions. 2. A circle of light; especially, the bright ring represented in painting as surrounding the heads of saints and other holy persons; a glory; a nimbus. 3. An ideal glory investing, or affecting one's perception of an object. 4. A colored circle around a nipple; an areola. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Halo \Ha"lo\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. {Haloed}; p. pr & vb n. {Haloing}.] To form or surround with a halo; to encircle with or as with a halo. The fire That haloed round his saintly brow. --Sothey. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: halo n 1: an indication of radiant light drawn around the head of a saint [syn: {aura}, {nimbus}, {glory}] 2: a toroidal shape; "a ring of ships in the harbor"; "a halo of smoke" [syn: {ring}, {annulus}, {anulus}, {doughnut}, {anchor ring}] 3: a circle of light around the sun or moon From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]: Halo, KY Zip code(s): 41633 From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: HALO, n. Properly, a luminous ring encircling an astronomical body, but not infrequently confounded with "aureola," or "nimbus," a somewhat similar phenomenon worn as a head-dress by divinities and saints. The halo is a purely optical illusion, produced by moisture in the air, in the manner of a rainbow; but the aureola is conferred as a sign of superior sanctity, in the same way as a bishop's mitre, or the Pope's tiara. In the painting of the Nativity, by Szedgkin a pious artist of Pesth, not only do the Virgin and the Child wear the nimbus, but an ass nibbling hay from the sacred manger is similarly decorated and to his lasting honor be it said appears to bear his unaccustomed dignity with a truly saintly grace.
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