Heliosis

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Sunstroke. uncountable, usually
  2. 2
    Sunburn. uncountable, usually
  3. 3
    Exposure to the sun. uncountable, usually
  4. 4
    Scorching of plants by the sun. uncountable, usually
  5. 5
    A sunroom or solarium of the Ancient Greeks. historical, uncountable, usually

    "The Greeks had their helioses and the Romans their solaria; yet heliotherapy has as yet scarcely emerged from the most empiric of performances into the dignity of a scientifically justified or rationalized procedure."

Example

More examples

"The Greeks had their helioses and the Romans their solaria; yet heliotherapy has as yet scarcely emerged from the most empiric of performances into the dignity of a scientifically justified or rationalized procedure."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἡλίωσις (hēlíōsis, “exposure to the sun”). By surface analysis, helio- + -osis.

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