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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Horizon \Ho*ri"zon\, noun [F., fr. L. horizon, fr. Gr. ? (sc. ?) the bounding line, horizon, fr. ? to bound, fr. ? boundary, limit.]
1. The line which bounds that part of the earth's surface visible to a spectator from a given point; the apparent junction of the earth and sky.
And when the morning sun shall raise his car Above the border of this horizon. --Shak.
All the horizon round Invested with bright rays. --Milton.
2. (Astron.) (a) A plane passing through the eye of the spectator and at right angles to the vertical at a given place; a plane tangent to the earth's surface at that place; called distinctively the sensible horizon. (b) A plane parallel to the sensible horizon of a place, and passing through the earth's center; -- called also {rational horizon} or {celestial horizon}. (c) (Naut.) The unbroken line separating sky and water, as seen by an eye at a given elevation, no land being visible.
3. (Geol.) The epoch or time during which a deposit was made.
The strata all over the earth, which were formed at the same time, are said to belong to the same geological horizon. --Le Conte.
4. (Painting) The chief horizontal line in a picture of any sort, which determines in the picture the height of the eye of the spectator; in an extended landscape, the representation of the natural horizon corresponds with this line.
5. The limit of a person's range of perception, capabilities, or experience; as, children raised in the inner city have limited horizons. [PJC]
6. [fig.] A boundary point or line, or a time point, beyond which new knowledge or experiences may be found; as, more powerful computers are just over the horizon. [PJC]
{Apparent horizon}. See under {Apparent}.
{Artificial horizon}, a level mirror, as the surface of mercury in a shallow vessel, or a plane reflector adjusted to the true level artificially; -- used chiefly with the sextant for observing the double altitude of a celestial body.
{Celestial horizon}. (Astron.) See def. 2, above.
{Dip of the horizon} (Astron.), the vertical angle between the sensible horizon and a line to the visible horizon, the latter always being below the former.
{Rational horizon}, and {Sensible horizon}. (Astron.) See def. 2, above.
{Visible horizon}. See definitions 1 and 2, above.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
horizon
noun
1: the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet [syn: {apparent horizon}, {visible horizon}, {sensible horizon}, {skyline}]
2: the range of interest or activity that can be anticipated; "It is beyond the horizon of present knowledge" [syn: {view}, {purview}]
3: a specific layer or stratum of soil or subsoil in a vertical cross section of land
4: the great circle on the celestial sphere whose plane passes through the sensible horizon and the center of the Earth [syn: {celestial horizon}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
71 Moby Thesaurus words for "horizon": azimuth, background, clear sight, color vision, command, compass, cone vision, day vision, daylight vision, discernment, domination, eye, eye-mindedness, eyereach, eyeshot, eyesight, false horizon, farsight, farsightedness, field of view, field of vision, keen sight, ken, limit of vision, limits, line of sight, naked eye, night vision, offing, outlook, outlook over, perception, peripheral field, peripheral vision, perspective, perspicacity, perspicuity, photopia, power of sight, prospect, purview, quick sight, range, reach, remote distance, rod vision, scan, scope, scope of vision, scotopia, sea line, seeing, sense of sight, sensible horizon, sight, sightedness, sightliness, skyline, survey, sweep, the distance, twilight vision, unobstructed vision, vanishing point, view, visible horizon, vision, vista, visual acuity, visual field, visual sense
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |