So·lar, a.
 1. Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from the sun; as, the solar system; solar light; solar rays; solar influence. See Solar system, below.
 2. Astrol. Born under the predominant influence of the sun. [Obs.]
    And proud beside, as solar people are.   --Dryden.
 3. Measured by the progress or revolution of the sun in the ecliptic; as, the solar year.
 4. Produced by the action of the sun, or peculiarly affected by its influence.
    They denominate some herbs solar, and some lunar.   --Bacon.
 Solar cycle. See under Cycle.
 Solar day. See Day, 2.
 Solar engine, an engine in which the energy of solar heat is used to produce motion, as in evaporating water for a steam engine, or expanding air for an air engine.
 Solar flowers Bot., flowers which open and shut daily at certain hours.
 Solar lamp, an argand lamp.
 Solar microscope, a microscope consisting essentially, first, of a mirror for reflecting a beam of sunlight through the tube, which sometimes is fixed in a window shutter; secondly, of a condenser, or large lens, for converging the beam upon the object; and, thirdly, of a small lens, or magnifier, for throwing an enlarged image of the object at its focus upon a screen in a dark room or in a darkened box.

 Solar month. See under Month.
 Solar oil, a paraffin oil used an illuminant and lubricant.
 Solar phosphori Physics, certain substances, as the diamond, siulphide of barium (Bolognese or Bologna phosphorus), calcium sulphide, etc., which become phosphorescent, and shine in the dark, after exposure to sunlight or other intense light.
 Solar plexus Anat., a nervous plexus situated in the dorsal and anterior part of the abdomen, consisting of several sympathetic ganglia with connecting and radiating nerve fibers; -- so called in allusion to the radiating nerve fibers.
 Solar spots. See Sun spots, under Sun.
 Solar system Astron., the sun, with the group of celestial bodies which, held by its attraction, revolve round it. The system comprises the major planets, with their satellites; the minor planets, or asteroids, and the comets; also, the meteorids, the matter that furnishes the zodiacal light, and the rings of Saturn. The satellites that revolve about the major planets are twenty-two in number, of which the Earth has one (see Moon.), Mars two, Jupiter five, Saturn nine, Uranus four, and Neptune one. The asteroids, between Mars and Jupiter, thus far discovered (1900), number about five hundred, the first four of which were found near the beginning of the century, and are called Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta.
 -- Solar telegraph, telegraph for signaling by flashes of reflected sunlight.
 Solar time. See Apparent time, under Time.

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 Time n.; pl. Times
 1. Duration, considered independently of any system of measurement or any employment of terms which designate limited portions thereof.
    The time wasteth [=\i. e. passes away] night and day.\=   --Chaucer.
    I know of no ideas . . . that have a better claim to be accounted simple and original than those of space and time.   --Reid.
 2. A particular period or part of duration, whether past, present, or future; a point or portion of duration; as, the time was, or has been; the time is, or will be.
    God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.   --Heb. i. 1.
 3. The period at which any definite event occurred, or person lived; age; period; era; as, the Spanish Armada was destroyed in the time of Queen Elizabeth; -- often in the plural; as, ancient times; modern times.
 4. The duration of one's life; the hours and days which a person has at his disposal.
    Believe me, your time is not your own; it belongs to God, to religion, to mankind.   --Buckminster.
 5. A proper time; a season; an opportunity.
    There is . . . a time to every purpose.   --Eccl. iii. 1.
    The time of figs was not yet.   --Mark xi. 13.
 6. Hour of travail, delivery, or parturition.
    She was within one month of her time.   --Clarendon.
 7. Performance or occurrence of an action or event, considered with reference to repetition; addition of a number to itself; repetition; as, to double cloth four times; four times four, or sixteen.
    Summers three times eight save one.   --Milton.
 8. The present life; existence in this world as contrasted with immortal life; definite, as contrasted with infinite, duration.
    Till time and sin together cease.   --Keble.
 9. Gram. Tense.
 10. Mus. The measured duration of sounds; measure; tempo; rate of movement; rhythmical division; as, common or triple time; the musician keeps good time.
    Some few lines set unto a solemn time.   --Beau. & Fl.
 Note: ☞ Time is often used in the formation of compounds, mostly self-explaining; as, time-battered, time-beguiling, time-consecrated, time-consuming, time-enduring, time-killing, time-sanctioned, time-scorner, time-wasting, time-worn, etc.
 Absolute time, time irrespective of local standards or epochs; as, all spectators see a lunar eclipse at the same instant of absolute time.
 Apparent time, the time of day reckoned by the sun, or so that 12 o'clock at the place is the instant of the transit of the sun's center over the meridian.
 Astronomical time, mean solar time reckoned by counting the hours continuously up to twenty-four from one noon to the next.
 At times, at distinct intervals of duration; now and then; as, at times he reads, at other times he rides.
 Civil time, time as reckoned for the purposes of common life in distinct periods, as years, months, days, hours, etc., the latter, among most modern nations, being divided into two series of twelve each, and reckoned, the first series from midnight to noon, the second, from noon to midnight.
 Common time Mil., the ordinary time of marching, in which ninety steps, each twenty-eight inches in length, are taken in one minute.
 Equation of time. See under Equation, n.
 In time. (a) In good season; sufficiently early; as, he arrived in time to see the exhibition. (b) After a considerable space of duration; eventually; finally; as, you will in time recover your health and strength.
 Mean time. See under 4th Mean.
 Quick time Mil., time of marching, in which one hundred and twenty steps, each thirty inches in length, are taken in one minute.
 Sidereal time. See under Sidereal.
 Standard time, the civil time that has been established by law or by general usage over a region or country. In England the standard time is Greenwich mean solar time. In the United States and Canada four kinds of standard time have been adopted by the railroads and accepted by the people, viz., Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time, corresponding severally to the mean local times of the 75th, 90th, 105th, and 120th meridians west from Greenwich, and being therefore five, six, seven, and eight hours slower than Greenwich time.
 Time ball, a ball arranged to drop from the summit of a pole, to indicate true midday time, as at Greenwich Observatory, England. --Nichol.
 Time bargain Com., a contract made for the sale or purchase of merchandise, or of stock in the public funds, at a certain time in the future.
 Time bill. Same as Time-table. [Eng.]
 Time book, a book in which is kept a record of the time persons have worked.
 Time detector, a timepiece provided with a device for registering and indicating the exact time when a watchman visits certain stations in his beat.
 Time enough, in season; early enough. “Stanly at Bosworth field, . . . came time enough to save his life.” --Bacon.
 Time fuse, a fuse, as for an explosive projectile, which can be so arranged as to ignite the charge at a certain definite interval after being itself ignited.
 Time immemorial, or Time out of mind. Eng. Law See under Immemorial.
 Time lock, a lock having clockwork attached, which, when wound up, prevents the bolt from being withdrawn when locked, until a certain interval of time has elapsed.
 Time of day, salutation appropriate to the times of the day, as “good morning,” “good evening,” and the like; greeting.
 To kill time. See under Kill, v. t.
 To make time. (a) To gain time. (b) To occupy or use (a certain) time in doing something; as, the trotting horse made fast time.
 To move against time, To run against time, or To go against time, to move, run, or go a given distance without a competitor, in the quickest possible time; or, to accomplish the greatest distance which can be passed over in a given time; as, the horse is to run against time.
 True time. (a) Mean time as kept by a clock going uniformly. (b) Astron. Apparent time as reckoned from the transit of the sun's center over the meridian.


 Ap·par·ent a.
 1. Capable of being seen, or easily seen; open to view; visible to the eye; within sight or view.
    The moon . . . apparent queen.   --Milton.
 2. Clear or manifest to the understanding; plain; evident; obvious; known; palpable; indubitable.
    It is apparent foul play.   --Shak.
 3. Appearing to the eye or mind (distinguished from, but not necessarily opposed to, true or real); seeming; as the apparent motion or diameter of the sun.
    To live on terms of civility, and even of apparent friendship.   --Macaulay.
    What Berkeley calls visible magnitude was by astronomers called apparent magnitude.   --Reid.
 Apparent horizon, the circle which in a level plain bounds our view, and is formed by the apparent meeting of the earth and heavens, as distinguished from the rational horizon.
 Apparent time. See Time.
 Heir apparent Law, one whose to an estate is indefeasible if he survives the ancestor; -- in distinction from presumptive heir. See Presumptive.
 Syn: -- Visible; distinct; plain; obvious; clear; certain; evident; manifest; indubitable; notorious.