colure

UK: /kəˈlʊə/, /ˈkəʊlʊə/ US: (kə lŏŏr′, kō-, kō′lŏŏr)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

co•lure  (kə lŏŏr′, kō-, kō′lŏŏr), n. [Astron.]

1. Astronomy either of two great circles of the celestial sphere intersecting each other at the poles, one passing through both equinoxes and the other through both solstices.

• Greek kólouros dock-tailed, equivalent. to kól(os) docked + -ouros -tailed, adjective, adjectival derivative of ourá tail; so called because the lower part is permanently hidden beneath the horizon
• Late Latin colūrus
• 1540–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

colure / kəˈlʊə ˈkəʊlʊə/ noun

1. either of two great circles on the celestial sphere, one of which passes through the celestial poles and the equinoxes and the other through the poles and the solstices

Etymology: 16th Century: from Late Latin colūrī (plural), from Greek kolourai cut short, dock-tailed, from kolos docked + oura tail; so called because the view of the lower part is curtailed