Analemma

//ˌæn.əˈlɛm.ə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A figure-eight curve that results when the Sun's position in the sky is plotted out over the year at the same hour of mean solar time every day.

    "People commonly encounter the equation of time in a strangely distorted figure 8, the analemma (Figure 6.5), frequently seen on terrestrial globes. The analemma is the equation of time plotted against the Sun's declination."

Example

More examples

"People commonly encounter the equation of time in a strangely distorted figure 8, the analemma (Figure 6.5), frequently seen on terrestrial globes. The analemma is the equation of time plotted against the Sun's declination."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀνάλημμα (análēmma, “pedestal of a sundial”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.