equator

See also: Equator

English

Alternative forms

• æquator (obsolete)
• equatour (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

From Late Latin (circulus) aequator (diei et noctis).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈkweɪ.tə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈkweɪ.tɚ/, /iˈkweɪ.tɚ/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪtə(ɹ)

Noun

equator (plural equators)

1. (geography, often “the Equator”) An imaginary great circle around Earth, equidistant from the two poles, and dividing earth's surface into the northern and southern hemisphere.
   • 2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns‎^[1]:

     Baishui is about as close to the equator as Tampa, Florida.

2. (astronomy) A similar great circle on any sphere, especially on a celestial body, or on other reasonably symmetrical three-dimensional body.
3. The midline of any generally spherical object, such as a fruit or vegetable, that has identifiable poles.

   Slice the onion through the equator.

4. The celestial equator.

Derived terms

• celestial equator
• equatorial
• Equatorial Guinea
• equatorial telescope
• magnetic equator

Related terms

• equal

Translations

circle around the earth

• Afrikaans: ewenaar
• Albanian: ekuator m
• Amharic: መሬት ሰቅ (märet säḳ)
• Arabic: خَطُّ الاِسْتِوَاء‎ m (ḵaṭṭu l-istiwāʔ)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܣܘܼܪܛܵܐ ܕܫܲܘܝܘܼܬܵܐ‎

• Armenian: հասարակած (hy) (hasarakac)
• Assamese: বিষুৱ ৰেখা (bixu rekha)
• Azerbaijani: ekvator
• Banyumasan: khatulistiwa, katulistiwa
• Basque: ekuatore
• Belarusian: эква́тар m (ekvátar)
• Bengali: নিরক্ষরেখা (nirokkhorekha)
• Breton: keheder (br) m
• Bulgarian: еква́тор m (ekvátor)
• Burmese: အီကွေတာ (my) (i-kweta)
• Catalan: equador (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 赤道 (zh) (chìdào)

• Czech: rovník (cs) m
• Danish: ækvator (da) c
• Dutch: evenaar (nl) m, equator (nl) m
• Esperanto: ekvatoro
• Estonian: ekvaator (et)
• Faroese: miðkringur m
• Finnish: päiväntasaaja (fi)
• French: équateur (fr) m
• Galician: ecuador (gl) m
• Georgian: ეკვატორი (eḳvaṭori)
• German: Äquator (de) m, Linie (de) f
• Greek: ισημερινός (el) m (isimerinós)
• Gujarati: વિષુવવૃત્ત (viṣuvvṛtt)
• Hebrew: קַו הַמַשׁוֶה‎ (he) m (kav-hamashveh)
• Hindi: भूमध्य रेखा f (bhūmadhya rekhā)
• Hungarian: Egyenlítő (hu)
• Icelandic: miðbaugur (is) m
• Indonesian: khatulistiwa (id), ekuator (id)
• Irish: méanchiorcal m
• Italian: equatore (it) m
• Japanese: 赤道 (ja) (せきどう, sekidō)
• Javanese: ꦏꦠꦸꦭꦶꦱ꧀ꦠꦶꦮ (katulistiwa)
• Kannada: ವಿಷುವದ್ರೇಖೆ (kn) (viṣuvadrēkhe)
• Kazakh: экватор (ékvator)
• Khmer: ភូមធ្យរេខា (phuumĕəʼthyĕəʼreikhaa), អេក្វាទ័រ (km) (ʼeekvaatɔə)
• Korean: 적도(赤道) (ko) (jeokdo)
• Kyrgyz: экватор (ky) (ekvator)
• Lao: ສູນສູດ (sūn sūt), ເສັ້ນສູນສູດ (lo) (sen sūn sūt)
• Latvian: ekvators m
• Lithuanian: pusiaujas m
• Luxembourgish: Equator
• Macedonian: еква́тор m (ekvátor)
• Malay: khatulistiwa
• Malayalam: ഭൂമദ്ധ്യരേഖ (bhūmaddhyarēkha)
• Maori: te ara nui o te Rā, te ara nui o Tama-te-Rā
• Marathi: विषुववृत्त (viṣuvvrutta)
• Mongolian: экватор (mn) (ekvator)
• Navajo: nahasdzáán ałníiʼgi hoodzooígíí
• Nepali: भूमध्य रेखा (bhūmadhya rekhā)
• Norman: lîngne f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ekvator (no) m

  Nynorsk: ekvator m

• Persian: خط استوا‎ (fa) (xatt-e estevâ), استوا‎ (fa) (estevâ)
• Polish: równik (pl) m
• Portuguese: equador (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਭੂ-ਮੱਧ ਰੇਖਾ (bhū-maddha rekhā)
• Quechua: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: ecuator (ro) n
• Russian: эква́тор (ru) m (ekvátor)
• Sanskrit: भूमध्यरेखा f (bhūmadhyarekhā)
• Scottish Gaelic: crios meadhan an t-saoghail m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: екватор m, полутар m

  Roman: ekvator (sh) m, polutar m

• Shona: muenzanisi
• Slovak: rovník m
• Slovene: ekvator (sl) m
• Somali: dhulbare
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: ekwator m

  Upper Sorbian: ekwator m

• Spanish: ecuador (es) m
• Swahili: ikweta
• Swedish: ekvator (sv) c
• Tagalog: gitguhit, ekwador
• Tajik: хати истиво (xati istivo), экватор (tg) (ekvator)
• Tamil: நிலநடுக் கோடு (nilanaṭuk kōṭu)
• Tatar: экватор (ekwator)
• Telugu: భూమధ్య రేఖ (bhūmadhya rēkha)
• Thai: เส้นศูนย์สูตร (th) (sên-sǔun-sùut)
• Turkish: Ekvator (tr), ekvator (tr)
• Turkmen: ekwator
• Ukrainian: еква́тор m (ekvátor)
• Uyghur: ئېكۋاتور‎ (ëkwator)
• Uzbek: ekvator (uz)
• Vietnamese: xích đạo (vi) (赤道)
• Volapük: kveator (vo)
• Welsh: cyhydedd (cy) m
• West Frisian: evener (fy) c
• Yiddish: עקוואַטאָר‎ m (ekvator)
• Zazaki: ekvator

circle around any sphere

• Catalan: equador (ca) m
• Finnish: päiväntasaaja (fi)
• Persian: استوا‎ (fa) (estevâ), معدل‌النهار‎ (mo'adel-olnahâr)
• Scottish Gaelic: crios-meadhain m

celestial equator — see celestial equator

Anagrams

• quorate

Dutch

Alternative forms

• aequator (dated, superseded)
• ekwator (superseded)

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin aequator.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌeːˈkʋaː.tɔr/
• Hyphenation: equa‧tor
• Rhymes: -aːtɔr

Noun

equator m (plural equators)

1. (formal) equator (great circle, equidistant from the poles, on Earth or another sphere)

   Synonym: evenaar

Derived terms

• equatoriaal
• hemelequator
• zonne-equator