Meaning & use
equator
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Meanings
nounsingular
The imaginary circle around the Earth halfway between the North and South Poles, at zero degrees latitude.
Grammar: Usually used with the: the equator. It is a single line, so it has no ordinary plural.
Patterns
- on the equator
- cross the equator
- north of the equator
Ecuador takes its name from the equator, which runs through the country.
The ship crossed the equator on Tuesday.
Days and nights are almost equal in length near the equator.
nouncountabletechnicalspecialist
The imaginary circle around any round body, such as a planet or star, that lies midway between its two poles.
Grammar: Countable in astronomy: Jupiter's equator, the celestial equator.
Patterns
- the equator of something
- the celestial equator
Jupiter spins fastest at its equator.
The celestial equator is the Earth's equator projected onto the sky.
A ring system circles the planet's equator.
Word forms
| plural | equators |
|---|
Common combinations
- cross the equator
- Sailors used to hold a ceremony when they crossed the equator.
- near the equator
- Rainforests grow near the equator.
- at the equator
- The sun is overhead at noon at the equator twice a year.
- north of the equator
- Most of the world's people live north of the equator.
- south of the equator
- Australia lies south of the equator.
- the celestial equator
- The star lies close to the celestial equator.
Synonyms and how they differ
- the line
- The line is an informal, old sailors' expression for the equator and is rarely used today.
- zero latitude
- Zero latitude is a technical way to say the same thing and is used in geography and navigation.
Opposites
Word family
- equatorial adjective
- relating to or near the equator
- equatorward adverb
- toward the equator
Commonly confused: equator or tropics? equator or latitude?
equator vs tropics
The tropics are the whole warm region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The equator is only the line down the middle.
equator vs latitude
Latitude measures how far north or south a place is. The equator is the line where latitude is zero.
Practice
Which statement about the equator is correct?
Choose one answer.
The equator circles the Earth halfway between the poles and divides it into northern and southern halves. A line running from pole to pole is a meridian, not the equator.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “equator”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.