equator
/ɪˈkweɪtə
/noun
1A line notionally drawn on the earth equidistant from the poles, dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres and constituting the parallel of latitude 0°.UV intensity falls as one moves from the equator toward Earth's poles, increasing latitude....
- As of 1791, the meter was defined as one ten-millionth the distance from the North Pole to the equator along the line of longitude that passes through Paris.
- This influx of fresh water causes the Gulf Stream, the ocean current that carries warm water from the equator into the northern hemisphere, to stop.
1.1 Astronomy short for celestial equator.The numbers that you see along the equator line represent celestial longitude, that is, hours of right ascension.
Origin
Late Middle English: from medieval Latin aequator, in the phrase circulus aequator diei et noctis 'circle equalizing day and night', from Latin aequare 'make equal' (see equate).