▪ I. solar, a. and n.1
(ˈsəʊlə(r))
[ad. L. sōlār-is, f. sōl sun. Cf. F. solaire, Sp. solar, Pg. solar, It. solare.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of or pertaining to the sun, its course, light, heat, etc.
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 31 Under the Cirkill solar thir sauoruss seidis War nurist be dame Natur. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Solar, of or belonging to the Sun. 1685 Dryden Thren. August. xii, Our Isle..lay Out of the Solar walk and Heavens high way. 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 102 His soul, proud Science never taught to stray Far as the solar walk, or milky way. 1754 Gray Progress Poesy 54 In climes beyond the solar road. 1769 [see disc 4]. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 331 In the solar spectrum..heat and light are not present in correspondent degrees. 1863 Neale Anal. Th. & Nat. 221 Our solar universe subsists, through the opposition of the light-and-heat-receiving circumference to the light-and-heat-imparting centre. 1878 Stewart & Tait Unseen Univ. ii. §73. 85 The spots were unmistakably solar phenomena. |
b. Of time: Determined by the course of the sun; fixed by observation of the sun.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xlv. (1636) 358 The Month Solar is that space of time which the Sunne spendeth in passing thorow any one of the twelve signes. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ i. v. §1 If years be sometimes Lunar, sometimes Solar. Ibid., The Solar moneths were either naturall..or civill. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v., Solar Cycle. 1725 Watts Logic (1736) 47 A Solar Year of three hundred sixty five Days. 1731–8 Swift Polite Conv. Introd. 44 To be daily delivered fresh, in every company, for twelve solar Months. 1816 Playfair Nat. Phil. II. 81 The mean interval of time between the sun's passing the meridian one day, and his passing it the next, is called a mean solar day. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 450/1 The perpetuity of the solar cycle..is destroyed by the new style. 1855 Lardner Mus. Sci. & Art V. 139 The time of 60 swings will be a mean solar minute, and the time of 3600 will be a mean solar hour. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. §437 The period that elapses between two successive passages through the vernal equinox..is called the solar, or tropical year. |
c. Indicating time in relation to, or by means of, the sun.
| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Dial, To use a Solar, as a Lunar-Dial, i.e. to find the Hour of the Night by a Sun-Dial. 1829 W. Pearson Pract. Astron. II. 314 Besides two good sidereal clocks, a well furnished observatory ought not to be without a good solar clock. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2238/2 Solar Chronometer, a sun-dial adapted to show mean instead of solar time. 1900 Jrnl. Sch. Geog. (U.S.) Apr. 138 Beginning with the Solar Calendar, which is the simpler. |
d. Of mechanism, etc.: Operating by means of, or with the aid of, the light or heat of the sun.
| 1740 [see microscope 1 b]. 1831 Brewster Optics xli. 346 The solar microscope is nothing more than a magic lantern, the light of the sun being used instead of that of a lamp. 1875 Vogel Chem. Light & Photogr. x. 95 To produce photographic images life size, the magic lantern is not used, but the solar camera. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2239/1 Solar Engine. Ibid., Solar Telegraph. 1876 J. Ericsson Centennial Exhibition xlv. 561 The solar engine..is composed of three distinct parts—the engine, the steam-generator, and the mechanism by means of which the..energy of the sun's rays..is increased. 1877–81 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. Suppl. 36/2 During the late campaign in Affghanistan, Solar Telegraphy was much resorted to. 1880 J. P. Mauzey U.S. Patent 227,028 27 Apr. 1, I..have invented a new and Improved Solar Heater. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 828/2 Solar Boiler, an apparatus intended to utilize the heat of the sun's rays. 1914 Metal Worker, Plumber & Steam Fitter LXXXII. 758/2 Ordinarily a solar heater is mounted upon the roof of the house. 1929 C. G. Abbot in Smithsonian Sci. Ser. II. ix. 222 The solar cooker is a delightful luxury. 1955 E. Burgess Frontier to Space viii. 150 The system envisaged is a solar engine which would intercept a relatively minute portion of the 92,000 calories which each square centimetre of the Sun's surface radiates every minute. 1962 A. Shepard in Into Orbit 83 There is a solar distiller in the kit which will help you convert salt water into the pint of water you need a day to stay alive. 1967 Daily Tel. 30 Jan. 10/6 Cooking food at practically no cost has been achieved by scientists at the Hebrew University by the use of a ‘solar cooker’. 1979 Tucson Mag. Apr. 62/3 A solar heater costs between $2000 and $2600 to buy and install. |
e. Concerned with or pertaining to the utilization of the sun's rays as a source of energy.
| 1972 Guardian 17 Oct. 15/6 Ambitious schemes..are under study—including a huge solar farm on earth feeding heat to power stations. 1979 Washington Star 8 May a14/2 The crowd wasn't sure how well it liked him, impeccably solar though he is when it comes to energy. 1979 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 17 May 15/1 It will take a long time for solar energy to become the dominant source of world energy. It will first be necessary to eliminate inefficiencies in solar technologies. 1979 Guardian 6 Sept. 4/4 Solar systems were immediately viable. |
2. a. Astrol. Subject to the influence of the sun; having a nature or character determined by the sun.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §493 They haue denominated some Herbs Solar and some Lunar. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. lxxiv. 424 The benefit he expects..shall be by the King, a Magistrate,..or by a Solar man of noble disposition. 1700 Dryden Fables, Cock & Fox 652 The cock was pleas'd.., And proud beside, as solar people are. 1845 The Theologian II. 41 When well dignified, the solar man is..splendid and sumptuous. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 294/1 The solar man is grand and generous, the lunar man unsteadfast. |
b. Sacred to the sun; connected or associated with the worship of the sun.
| 1774 J. Bryant Mythol. II. 66 It was at first only a mark of reference, and betokened a solar animal, specifying the particular Deity to whom it was sacred. 1820 W. Tooke Lucian I. 554 The miracle..which Homer relates of the solar-oxen. 1877 W. R. Cooper Egypt. Obelisks ii. (1878) 6 In Ra, according to the solar litanies, were combined all the attributes of power and wisdom. 1906 Lockyer Stonehenge v. 51 The assumption of Stonehenge having been a solar temple. |
c. Representing or symbolizing the sun.
| 1807 J. Barlow Columb. iii. 531 Meantime the solar king collects from far His martial bands. 1816 G. S. Faber Orig. Pagan Idol. II. 106 The solari-tauric Mithras is therefore evidently the solar man-bull Taschter. 1889 I. Taylor Orig. Aryans vi. 311 Hence few mythologies are altogether free from the loves of solar heroes and dawn maidens. |
d. Sprung or descended from the sun.
| 1788 Sir W. Jones in Asiatic Researches (1790) II. 136 The time, when the Solar and Lunar dynasties are believed to have become extinct. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. I. 259 The lunar race has but forty-eight names in the same period, in which the solar has ninety-five. |
† 3. a. solar earth,
solar metal, gold. (
Cf. sol n.1 2.)
b. solar metal, a coloured metal.
Obs.| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, cxxix, Wee..need not feare an Asse's Load Of Solar Earth can force the Gates vnshutt. 1666 J. Smith Solomon's Portraiture Old Age (1752) 92 By the help of fire, and possibly some specific menstruum as a proper key for that solar metal. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 352 The alchemists gave the name of Solar Metals to those which are coloured; and that of Lunar to those which are white. |
4. a. Of light, heat, etc.: Proceeding or emanating from the sun.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 242 We had our Skins flead off of those Parts exposed to the Solar Rays. 1726 Pope Odyss. xix. 515 Nor winter's boreal blast,..Nor solar ray, could pierce the shady bower. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 125 By concentrated solar heat. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 289 The light derived from such sources differs from the solar light in being accompanied by free radiant caloric. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. ii. 41 The solution..offers a means of filtering the solar beam. 1884 Nature 3 Jan. 217/2 This heater..contains the acting medium, steam or air, employed to transfer solar energy to the motor. 1939 A. Huxley Many a Summer i. x. 130 It's a gadget..for making use of solar energy. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 21 Feb. 8/3 He's living in a house heated mostly by solar energy. |
b. Warmed by the sun; sunny.
| 1821 Byron Sardan. i. ii. 127 Semiramis..led These our Assyrians to the solar shores Of Ganges. |
5. Resembling that of the sun; comparable to the sun. Also
fig.| 1754 Young Centaur not Fabulous Wks. 1762 IV. 260 They only have solar or self-born light who live up to the dignity of their nature. 1834 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sci. xxxvi. 402 Solid bodies of a solar nature. 1839–48 Bailey Festus viii. 87, I saw,..Blazing aghast in solar solitude, A panting shadow. 1861 J. Brown Horæ Subs. Ser. ii. 62 He was in this respect a solar man: he drew after him his own firmament of planets. |
6. In Arabic grammar, the epithet of the class of consonants before which the
l of the article is assimilated; so called because including
sh, the initial letter of
shems ‘sun’. Opposed to
lunar.
| 1776 J. Richardson Arab. Gram. iii. 8 The dentals and linguals are called solar letters. 1855 Davis & Davidson Arabic Reading Less. p. xxxii, The influence the solar letters exercise upon the article. 1905 N. & Q. 30 Dec. 534/1 One of the fourteen solar letters. |
7. Special collocations:
solar apex, the point in space, situated in the constellation Lyra, toward which the sun is moving; the apex of the solar way;
solar battery, a solar cell, or an assembly of such cells;
solar cell, a photovoltaic device which converts solar radiation into electrical energy;
solar collector, a device which absorbs solar radiation as heat or reflects it to a focus;
† solar comet (see
quot. 1704);
solar compass, (
a) a magnetic instrument turning under the influence of the sun's rays; (
b) an instrument used in surveying for easy determination of the meridian;
solar constant (see
constant B,
quots. 1869, 1890);
solar eye,
fig. (see
quot.);
solar eye-piece, a device used in observations of the sun to diminish the light and heat of this (Knight, 1875);
solar flare = flare n.1 1 b;
solar furnace, an apparatus in which high temperature reactions are carried out at the focus of a system which concentrates the sun's radiation, usually by reflection;
solar ganglion,
= solar plexus;
solar glass, tinted glass for large windows;
solar house orig. U.S., a solar-heated house;
solar lamp, (
a) an argand lamp; (
b) a grade of electric lamp;
solar myth, a myth resulting from a personification of the sun and describing its course or attributes as those of some god or hero;
solar neutrino unit, a unit used in expressing the detected flux of neutrinos from the sun, equal to 10
-36 neutrino captures per target atom per second;
abbrev. SNU s.v. S 4 a;
solar oil (see
quot. 1868);
solar paddle, a large, flat array of solar cells projecting from a spacecraft like a paddle;
solar panel, a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays for the purpose of generating electricity (by means of solar cells) or heating;
solar phosphorus, a substance which emits light as the result of exposure to sunlight;
solar pillar = sun-pillar s.v. sun n.1 13;
solar plasma = solar wind below;
solar plexus, a complex of nerves situated at the pit of the stomach; the epigastric plexus;
solar pond,
pool, a pool or lake of very salty water in which convection is inhibited, allowing considerable heating of the bottom water by solar radiation;
solar power, power derived more or less directly from solar radiation;
solar print, a photograph made by sunlight;
solar reflector (see
quot.);
solar sail, a surface designed to utilize the pressure of solar radiation to provide the propulsive force for a spacecraft to which it is attached; so
solar sailing vbl. n.;
solar salt, salt obtained by allowing sea water to evaporate in sunlight;
solar spot, a sunspot;
solar stearin, a substance obtained from lard;
solar still, a still, often portable, in which solar radiation is employed to evaporate salty or impure water and produce fresh water;
solar system, the sun together with all the planets and other bodies connected with it;
solar tables, tables by which the position of the sun may be ascertained;
solar wheel, a wheel in a clock serving to show the apparent daily motion of the sun;
solar wind, the stream of ions and electrons which constantly emanates from the sun and which permeates the solar system.
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 819 Whose various determinations of the *solar apex are shown in fig. 52. |
| 1954 N.Y. Times 26 Apr. 1/2 A *solar battery, the first of its kind, which converts useful amounts of the sun's radiation directly and efficiently into electricity, has been constructed. 1962 Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors iv. 73 Most of the radiation from the sun is in the region of 1·0eV and above so that ‘solar batteries’ can be made from germanium or silicon. The efficiency of the process is greater when silicon is used and commercial solar batteries (sometimes called ‘solar cells’) are at present made from this material. 1978 W. Palz Solar Electr. iii. 179 The direct conversion of sunlight into electric power is achieved by means of solar batteries, made up of solar cells. |
| 1955 G. L. Pearson in Bell Lab. Rec. July 241/1 The Bell Solar Battery consists of a number of individual silicon *solar cells. 1962 [see solar battery above]. 1967 New Scientist 25 May 463/2 The Mariner IV solar cell surface..provided power for the first close photographs of the planet Mars. 1980 Solar Energy XXIV. facing p. 1 (caption) The world's largest solar cell electric power generation station... The 60kW system consists of nearly 98,000 individual silicon solar cells. |
| 1955 Trans. Conf. Use of Solar Energy (Tucson, Ariz.) II. i. vi. 75 For optimum performance a *solar collector should face true south (north in the southern hemisphere). 1976 Toronto Star 24 Jan. e1/4 A well-insulated detached house requires about 35,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year to heat it. A solar collector of the size on the Mississauga house would be able to supply about half of the heat needed. 1980 Solar Energy XXV. facing p. 1 (caption) Giant parabolic dish solar collectors..have produced efficiencies of 71 per cent at 750°F operating temperature. |
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. l, Argyrocomus, a Silver-coloured Comet differing very little from the *Solar Comet, except that it is of a brighter Silver colour. |
| 1833 T. Brown White's Selborne 227 note, Mr. Mark Watt has invented a very..interesting instrument, which he calls the heliastron, or *solar compass. |
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. i. i, We must,..as Ficinus aduiseth us, get vs *solar eyes, spectacles as they that looke on the Sunne. |
| 1938 Nature 17 Sept. 500/2 It would..scarcely be permissible to deduce from the single observation of Carrington..that the three phenomena, *solar flare, radio fade-out and..magnetic disturbance, were associated. 1957 Practical Wireless XXXIII. 722/1 Solar flares are shortlived, sudden increases in the intensity of the surface brightness in the neighbourhood of sunspots. 1979 C. Kilian Icequake vii. 120 Your plane's electronics go bonkers now and then when another solar flare hits. |
| 1924 M. E. Moreau U.S. Patent 1,479,923 The primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved *solar furnace for producing an intense heat to be used for scientific purposes. 1951 Bull. Amer. Ceramic Soc. XXX. 163/1 A new and important instrument for high-temperature research is the recently developed solar furnace, which, by using the radiant energy of the sun, is able to produce extremely high temperatures in a small area. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia IX. 330/3 Because of its unique ability to heat materials for long periods without contamination, the solar furnace has become an important tool in high-temperature research. 1979 J. F. Kreider Medium & High Temp. Solar Processes vi. 232 (caption) White Sands solar furnace showing the single heliostat on the right, the concentrator on the left, and flux control shutters in the center. |
| 1741 A. Monro Anat. Nerves (ed. 3) 57 This great *Solar Ganglion. |
| 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 1058/1 The window wall was designed to contain outer sheets of brown *solar glass. 1978 J. McNeil Consultant iii. 55 The Waterman building soared in dark grey metal and matching tinted solar glass. |
| 1946 Fortune Mag. Apr. 166 *Solar houses will be erected in forty-eight states. 1957 Economist 28 Sept. 1027/1 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is building a series of ‘solar houses’. 1976 Toronto Star 24 Jan. e1/2 At Provident House, another experimental solar house now being built in King Township, the storage tank contains 60,300 gallons of water. |
| 1841 Mechanics' Mag. 16 Jan. 34 The invention of the ‘*Solar Lamp’ is due to Mr. Jeremiah Bynner, of Birmingham, by whom it was patented in 1837. 1887 C. Hazard Mem. J. L. Diman iii. 54 A bright solar lamp shedding its rays around the room. |
| 1870 G. W. Cox Myth. Aryan Nations I. iv. 53 Of this vast mass of *solar myths, some have emerged into independent legends, others have furnished the groundwork of whole epics. |
| 1970, 1976 *Solar neutrino unit [see SNU s.v. S 4 a]. 1980 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 397/1 The low rate, if attributed to solar neutrinos, would correspond to a neutrino capture rate in the tank of 0·41 {pm} 0·07 per day. To compare this rate to [sic] the theory, one expresses the neutrino capture rate in solar neutrino units... The rate corresponds to 2·2 {pm} 0·4 SNU. |
| 1864 Intell. Obs. IV. 91 The more volatile [portion] being set apart as photogen, and the less as *solar oil. 1868 Watts Dict. Chem., Solar Oil, a name applied in commerce chiefly to the heavier portions of petroleum and shale-oil. |
| 1962 Listener 29 Nov. 902/1 The probe was first instructed to ‘find the Sun’—by means of sun-sensors on the bottom of the vehicle and on the ‘*solar paddles’. 1968 New Scientist 2 May 230/2 An even greater increase in power can be obtained by adding solar paddles to the stabilised platform. |
| 1964 IEEE Trans. Aerospace II. 770/1 The *solar panel was set on a surface plate with a piece of frosted glass flush against the end of the panel. 1968 Times 16 Oct. 8/8 The spacecraft has large solar panels. 1974 P. Dickinson Poison Oracle i. 13 The roof offered the widest possible expanse to the solar panels that provided much of the energy for the palace's gadgetry. 1976 Pract. Householder Nov. (Heating Suppl.) 23/2 The past summer..produced astonishingly high air temperature and sunshine hours so that reservoir temperature and storage tank levels rose and solar panels heated the water quickly. |
| 1800 Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 184 They yield a *solar phosphorus, called, from its discoverer, Homberg's phosphorus. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 331 The phenomena of the solar phosphori seem to militate against this idea. |
| 1978 Sci. Amer. Apr. 149/1 The *solar pillar, a commoner phenomenon, is a vertical shaft of light extending upward from the sun. |
| 1962 Listener 29 Nov. 902/1 The *solar plasma (commonly called ‘solar wind’), which consists of low-energy charged particles which continually stream outward from the Sun. 1972 A. Hewish in C. P. Sonett et al. Solar Wind vii. 477 Radio waves traversing the solar plasma are scattered by irregularities of plasma density. |
| 1771 Encycl. Brit. I. 254/2 Branches of the *solar or cæliac plexus, formed by the eighth pair and intercostals. 1830 R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 346 The union of the nervus vagus of the right side and the solar plexus. 1872 Mivart Elem. Anat. x. (1879) 404 The solar plexus..behind the stomach. |
| 1961 Sci. News Let. 12 Aug. 106/2 Instead of using vast expanses of expensive mirrors, a *solar pond traps heat in shallow water. 1971 Sci. Amer. June 127/1 The hot, salty water is selectively withdrawn from the solar ponds and used to drive a generator. 1979 Nature 11 Jan. 91/2 A solar pond is a water-filled pond, 1–2 m deep, with a blackened bottom for greater heat absorption and a gradually increasing salt concentration towards the base to eliminate convection, which is the main cause of heat loss. |
| 1960 Daily Tel. 18 Aug. 16/2 (heading) *Solar pools as rival to nuclear power stations. 1975 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Dec. 2/8 Scientists have failed to find a way of releasing the potential energy at the bottom of solar pools where water approaches the boiling point. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. (Advt. Section) 20/2 Featuring solar pool, putting green, horse facilities & country atmosphere. |
| [1908 Sci. Amer. 8 Feb. 97/1 (heading) A new solar power plant.] 1915 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts LXIII. 564/1 *Solar power was quite within the range of practical matters. 1956 Sci. Amer. July 97/2 Any attempt to produce solar power means collecting the energy falling on a large area. 1976 Times 26 Mar. (Energy Suppl.) p. vi/4 If an equal number of existing houses were converted, domestic solar power could then substitute for about 4 per cent of Britain's energy needs. |
| 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bulletin II. 281 The two first *solar prints that were made in New York in 1853 or 1854. |
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 275 The *Solar Reflector..enables us to reflect the solar ray into any piece of apparatus or room, suitably situated. |
| 1960 Aeroplane XCIX. 693/1 Another interesting concept which has not yet really undergone feasibility determination is that of the *solar sail. With this device, a space ‘ship’ may some day be able literally to sail through interplanetary space. 1978 Listener 6 July 13/3 The ‘solar sail’ makes space travel in the inner solar system very cheap. |
| 1960 Aeroplane XCIX. 744/1 The subject of *solar-sailing. 1973 C. Sagan Cosmic Connection xxiii. 162 Solar sailing, the use of the pressure of sunlight and of the protons and electrons in the solar wind for tripping through the solar system. |
| 1861 J. S. Muspratt Chem., Theoret., Pract., & Analytical II. 906/1 This Onondaga *solar or coarse salt is unsurpassed..in the world. 1950 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) X. 844/2 Some solar salt-factories produce high-quality table-salt by re-dissolving solar salt in water, purifying the resultant brine, and then evaporating it. 1972 Times 16 Oct. 19/7 Ventures ranging from solar salt to uranium. |
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, *Solar Spots. See Spots of the Sun. 1854 Brewster More Worlds v. 96 The solar spots, which are now universally admitted to be openings in the luminous stratum. |
| 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 312 A solid, glistening, and crystalline residue, known in commerce as ‘*solar stearin’, which is useful in candle making. |
| 1946 W. R. P. Delano U.S. Patent 2,413,101 (heading) *Solar still with nonfogging window. 1970 Guardian 15 Jan. 11/2 At the end of 1969..the Clan McIlwraith sailed..for Mombasa, carrying a prefabricated solar still for Aldabra, a lonely coral atoll in the Indian Ocean. 1979 Solar Energy XXIII. 271/1 The basin-type pitched roof solar still is the commonest and cheapest. |
| a 1704 Locke Elem. Nat. Phil. iii. (1754) 8 Our *solar system consists of the sun, and the planets, and comets moving about it. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 132 The common Centre..of the Solar System. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 197/1 We are now to state the relative dimensions of the Solar System in a rough manner. |
| 1812 Woodhouse Astron. viii. 55 The *Solar Tables give the Sun's longitude. |
| 1819 Rees's Cycl. VIII. 3 U, The remedy we have proposed for the inaccuracy of Mr. Ferguson's *solar and lunar wheels. |
| 1958 Physical Rev. CX. 1448/1 The geomagnetic field can be penetrated to a considerable depth by tongues of ionized gas from the *solar wind. 1969 Times 22 July (Moon Rep.) p. iii/6 Buzz is erecting the solar wind experiment now. 1977 D. Harsent Dreams of Dead 21 Unimaginable, the solar winds roared through space, putting the earth awry. 1978 Pasachoff & Kutner University Astron. viii. 227 (caption) The solar wind causes the wavy streaming of the tails of comets. |
8. Comb., as
solar-charged,
solar-diluvian,
solar-form,
solar-generated,
solar-spotted,
solar-terrestrial adjs.;
solar-microscope vb.;
solar-heated a., heated by means of the sun's rays; equipped with a solar heating system; also
solar-heat v. trans. (also absol.);
solar heating, heating by means of the sun's rays,
esp. when utilized for water or space heating; also
attrib.;
solar-powered a., using power derived directly from the sun's rays.
| 1968 G. M. B. Dobson Explor. Atmos. (ed. 2) xi. 195 The effect of the earth's magnetic field on the solar-charged particles is to deflect them back, away from the earth. 1803 G. S. Faber Cabiri I. 249 Ogygi-San is equivalent to the solar-diluvian god. |
| 1789 T. Taylor Proclus (1792) II. 271 When she proceeds from reason to the object of imagination, she naturally obtains a solar-form body. |
| 1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. a14/6 The costs of solar-generated electric power currently did not ‘stand up’ in comparison with other energy sources. |
| 1952 Ayres & Scarlott Energy Sources—Wealth of World xv. 208 Houses can be solar-heated completely without fuel when the mean atmospheric transmissivity is above 55 percent. 1977 National Observer (U.S.) 8 Jan. 8/4 When solar heating a house, the calculations become more complex. 1979 Sunset Apr. 132/1 (Advt.), The Poolsaver Automatic Solar Pool Cover solar heats and thermal insulates. By day Poolsaver absorbs solar energy. |
| 1950 Heating & Ventilating Engineer XXIV. 148/1 The practicability of employing solar-heated air as a source of heat in removing moisture from a dehumidifying agent. 1956 World Symposium on Applied Solar Energy 107/2 The first solar-heated house was built in 1939 at M.I.T. as part of the Godfrey L. Cabot Solar Energy Conversion Research Project. 1977 Time 24 Jan. 19/1 Carter and Mondale will watch the parade in front of the White House from a 60-ft. solar-heated reviewing stand. |
| 1903 C. H. Pope Solar Heat i. 43 Another patent for solar-heating devices was obtained..from the British Government. 1951 Archit. Rev. CIX. 291/1 A limited supply of hot water is provided by solar heating systems on the roof of each ward block. 1958 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 94/1 The chief advantage claimed for solar heating, compared with other methods, is that the region of high temperature is localized, and contamination of material, while in the molten state, can thus be avoided. 1968 R. A. Lyttleton Mysteries Solar Syst. v. 175 No serious effects of solar heating could be expected at such a distance from the sun, though some intense local heating on [sic] the particles through collisions could occur. 1977 ‘E. Trevor’ Theta Syndrome iii. 43 David Pryor, a solar heating engineer. |
| a 1849 Poe Mrs. Browning Wks. 1864 III. 403 A nature..solar microscoped into poetry. |
| 1959 Time 26 Oct. 58/2 The satellite is shaped like a gyroscope... It squeals like a bagpipe as it signals from two transmitters—one powered by a chemical battery, the other solar-powered. 1978 Illustr. London News Nov. 19/2 The Administration succeeded in gaining agreement for..conservation measures, including tax relief for householders insulating their homes or for installing solar-powered systems. |
| 1881 Nature XVIII. 237 The curve of solar-spotted area. |
| 1946 Nature 7 Sept. 329/1 Study of precise solar-terrestrial relationships has been a major Smithsonian activity for many years. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. I. 619/2 Solar physics..overlaps with geophysics in the consideration of solar-terrestrial relationships. |
B. n.1 1. Photogr. A solar print.
| 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bulletin II. 281 Each unbeknown to the other was making life size solars for the American Institute Fair. |
2. A solar lamp.
| 1853 M. J. McIntosh Lofty & Lowly i. 9 The astral lamp—solars were not yet invented—..throws its rays on cases filled with richly gilded volumes. 1976 H. R. F. Keating Filmi, Filmi, Inspector Ghote iii. 29 We are using a great number of different lights for different purposes in filming, Five-Ks, Two-Ks, Sunspots, Solars, Babies. |
3. U.S. Solar radiation as a source of domestic or industrial energy.
| 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 17 July 9/2 What one is trying to do is go out and demonstrate for the building industry that solar is here for heating buildings. 1978 Tucson (Ariz.) Mag. Dec. 77 Passage of the solar tax credits by Congress will result in the rapid growth of solar in Southern Arizona. |
▪ II. solar, n.2 Alteration (after
prec.) of
sola n.| 1859 Cornwallis New World I. 332 A large Stock of Solar Hats, suitable for Port Curtis. 1859 J. Lang Wand. India 183 He was dressed in a pair of large jack-boots, corduroy breeches, a shooting-coat, and a solar helmet. 1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 20 One solar topee pith hat. |
▪ III. solar(e variants of
sollar n.1