Meanings
plural parhelia · plural parhelions
- Synonym of sun dog (“a bright spot in the sky, usually one of two on the parhelic circle on both sides of the sun (or occasionally above and below it), caused by the refraction of the sun's image through ice crystals”).
- An image or reflection.
The short (166 lines) Canto One, with all those amusing birds and parhelia, occupies thirteen cards.
1962, Charles Kinbote [pseudonym; Vladimir Nabokov], Pale Fire, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, published November 1985, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of sun dog (“a bright spot in the sky, usually one of two on the parhelic circle on both sides of the sun (or occasionally above and below it), caused by the refraction of the sun's image through ice crystals”).
More synonyms by meaning
nouna bright spot on the parhelic circle; caused by diffraction by ice crystals
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπαρήλιον
- Latinparelion
- Englishparhelion
From Latin parelion, from Ancient Greek παρήλιον (parḗlion), from παρά (pará) + ἥλιος (hḗlios, “sun”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans parhelium
- parheliumsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Basque parelio
- pareliosynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Bulgarian пархелий
- пархелий (parhelij)synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Catalan parheli
- parhelisynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Czech parhelium
- parheliumsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Dutch parhelium
- parheliumsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Estonian parheelia
- parheeliasynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
French parhélie
- parhéliesynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Hungarian parhelion
- parhelionsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Indonesian parhelion
- parhelionsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Italian parelio
- pareliosynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Latin parhēlium
- parhēliumsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Polish parhelion
- parhelionsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Portuguese parélio
- paréliosynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Russian парге́лий
- парге́лий (pargélij)synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Spanish parhelio
- parheliosynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Ukrainian паргелій
- паргелій (parhelij)synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Welsh parhelion
- parhelionsynonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with parhelion
All rhymes →Cite this entry
parhelion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parhelion
“parhelion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parhelion. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parhelion,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parhelion.
Source: parhelion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.