Earth & SkyGreek → English
Acronychal
/əˈkrɒnɪkəl/adjective
Describing a star that rises as the sun sets, or sets as the sun rises.
The Greek roots
ἄκρος
ákros
topmost, at the edge
νύξ
nýx
night
Literally: “at the edge of night”
The story of the word
The opposite number to heliacal. A star rises acronychally when it comes up at the very start of night, and ancient calendars were regulated by both events, since farmers could see them without instruments. English spelling never settled: acronychal, acronycal and acronical all appear in print. The ἄκρος half also gives acropolis, the city's high point, and acrobat, one who walks on tiptoe.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
acropolisacrobatacronymnyctophobia
In a sentence
Hesiod dates the harvest by the acronychal rising of Arcturus.