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horizon

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horizon

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Horizon  \Ho*ri"zon\,  n.  [F.,  fr  L.  horizon,  fr  Gr  ?  (sc.  ?) 
  the  bounding  line  horizon,  fr  ?  to  bound,  fr  ?  boundary, 
  limit.] 
  1.  The  circle  which  bounds  that  part  of  the  earth's  surface 
  visible  to  a  spectator  from  a  given  point;  the  apparent 
  junction  of  the  earth  and  sky. 
 
  And  when  the  morning  sun  shall  raise  his  car  Above 
  the  border  of  this  horizon.  --Shak. 
 
  All  the  horizon  round  Invested  with  bright  rays. 
  --Milton. 
 
  2.  (Astron.) 
  a  A  plane  passing  through  the  eye  of  the  spectator  and 
  at  right  angles  to  the  vertical  at  a  given  place  a 
  plane  tangent  to  the  earth's  surface  at  that  place 
  called  distinctively  the  sensible  horizon. 
  b  A  plane  parallel  to  the  sensible  horizon  of  a  place 
  and  passing  through  the  earth's  center;  --  called  also 
  {rational  or  celestial  horizon}. 
  c  (Naut.)  The  unbroken  line  separating  sky  and  water,  as 
  seen  by  an  eye  at  a  given  elevation,  no  land  being 
  visible. 
 
  3.  (Geol.)  The  epoch  or  time  during  which  a  deposit  was  made 
 
  The  strata  all  over  the  earth,  which  were  formed  at 
  the  same  time,  are  said  to  belong  to  the  same 
  geological  horizon.  --Le  Conte. 
 
  4.  (Painting)  The  chief  horizontal  line  in  a  picture  of  any 
  sort,  which  determines  in  the  picture  the  height  of  the 
  eye  of  the  spectator;  in  an  extended  landscape,  the 
  representation  of  the  natural  horizon  corresponds  with 
  this  line 
 
  {Apparent  horizon}.  See  under  {Apparent}. 
 
  {Artificial  horizon},  a  level  mirror,  as  the  surface  of 
  mercury  in  a  shallow  vessel,  or  a  plane  reflector  adjusted 
  to  the  true  level  artificially;  --  used  chiefly  with  the 
  sextant  for  observing  the  double  altitude  of  a  celestial 
  body. 
 
  {Celestial  horizon}.  (Astron.)  See  def.  2,  above. 
 
  {Dip  of  the  horizon}  (Astron.),  the  vertical  angle  between 
  the  sensible  horizon  and  a  line  to  the  visible  horizon, 
  the  latter  always  being  below  the  former. 
 
  {Rational  horizon},  and  {Sensible  horizon}.  (Astron.)  See 
  def.  2,  above. 
 
  {Visible  horizon}.  See  definitions  1  and  2,  above. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  horizon 
  n  1:  the  line  at  which  the  sky  and  Earth  appear  to  meet  [syn:  {apparent 
  horizon},  {visible  horizon},  {sensible  horizon},  {skyline}] 
  2:  the  range  of  interest  or  activity  that  can  be  anticipated; 
  "It  is  beyond  the  horizon  of  present  knowledge"  [syn:  {view}, 
  {purview}] 
  3:  a  specific  layer  or  stratum  of  soil  or  subsoil  in  a  vertical 
  cross  section  of  land 
  4:  the  great  circle  on  the  celestial  sphere  whose  plane  passes 
  through  the  sensible  horizon  and  the  center  of  the  Earth 
  [syn:  {celestial  horizon}]




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