Words are very powerful — so become empowered by enhancing your vocabulary! Check out this week’s word ‘parhelion’, a new entrant to the Oxford Dictionary

Parhelion

Noun (plural:parhelia)

Definition: A bright spot in the sky appearing on either side of the sun, formed by refraction of sunlight through ice crystals high in the atmosphere. Also called mock sun, sun dog.

Example: “Haloes may be accompanied by a whole array of circumzenithal arcs and parhelion (mock suns).” “By the riverside he seized on a sign: three suns in the sky (a rare astrological phenomenon known as a parhelion) to inspire in his troops and himself a moment of intense self-belief.”

Origin Mid 17th century: from Latin parelion, from Greek para- ‘beside’ + helios ‘sun’.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 26th, 2015