precession of the equinoxes

noun

The slow westward shift of the equinoxes along the plane of the ecliptic, resulting from precession of the earth's axis of rotation, and causing the equinoxes to occur earlier each year.

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Meanings

nounprecession of the equinoxes (plural precessions of the equinoxes)

plural precessions of the equinoxes

  1. The slow westward shift of the equinoxes along the plane of the ecliptic, resulting from precession of the earth's axis of rotation, and causing the equinoxes to occur earlier each year.

    Some three thousand years ago (owing to the Precession of the Equinoxes) that star at the winter solstice did not stand at midnight where you now see it, but almost exactly ON the meridian line.

    1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 29

Translations

Spanish precesión de los equinoccios
  • precesión de los equinocciosTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

precession of the equinoxes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precession%20of%20the%20equinoxes

MLA

“precession of the equinoxes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precession%20of%20the%20equinoxes. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “precession of the equinoxes,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precession%20of%20the%20equinoxes.

Source: precession of the equinoxes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.