Meanings
nounsolar eclipse (plural solar eclipses)
plural solar eclipses
- astronomyA phenomenon occurring when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun.
A solar eclipse is one of nature's most impressive sights.
1 more example
The earliest reliable accounts of Chinese eclipses come from Spring and Autumn Annals (Ch’un-ch’iu), recording eclipses from 772 to 481 BCE, including a total solar eclipse in 709 BCE.
2017, Mark Littmann, Fred Espenak, “Ancient Efforts to Understand”, in Totality: The Great American Eclipses of 2017 and 2024, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 38
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
From solar + eclipse. First use appears c. 1602 in the writings of Thomas Blundeville.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans sonsverduistering
- sonsverduisteringwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Arabic كُسُوف اَلشَّمْس
- كُسُوف اَلشَّمْس (kusūf aš-šams)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Basque eguzki eklipse
- eguzki eklipsewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Bengali সূর্যগ্রহণ, কুসূফে আফতাব
- সূর্যগ্রহণ (śurjogrohon)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- কুসূফে আফতাব (kusūfe aftab)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Bulgarian слънчево затъмнение
- слънчево затъмнение (slănčevo zatămnenie)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Catalan eclipsi solar
- eclipsi solarwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Chinese Cantonese 日食, 日蝕 /日蚀
- 日食 (jat⁶ sik⁶)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- 日蝕 /日蚀 (jat⁶ sik⁶)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- 天狗食日 (tin¹ gau² sik⁶ jat⁶)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Chinese Mandarin 日食, 日蝕 /日蚀
- 日食 (rìshí)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- 日蝕 /日蚀 (rìshí)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Czech zatmění slunce
- zatmění sluncewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Danish solformørkelse
- solformørkelsewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Dutch zonsverduistering
- zonsverduisteringwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Esperanto suna eklipso
- suna eklipsowhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Estonian väikesevarjutus
- väikesevarjutuswhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Finnish auringonpimennys
- auringonpimennyswhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
French éclipse solaire
- éclipse solairewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
German Sonnenfinsternis
- Sonnenfinsterniswhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Greek έκλειψη ηλίου
- έκλειψη ηλίου (ékleipsi ilíou)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Hebrew ליקוי חמה
- ליקוי חמה (likúi khamá)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Hindi सूर्य ग्रहण
- सूर्य ग्रहण (sūrya grahaṇ)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Hungarian napfogyatkozás
- napfogyatkozáswhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Icelandic sólmyrkvi
- sólmyrkviwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Indonesian gerhana matahari
- gerhana matahariwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Italian eclisse solare, eclissi solare
- eclisse solarewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- eclissi solarewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Japanese 日食
- 日食 (nisshoku)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Korean 일식
- 일식 (ilsik)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Latvian saules aptumsums
- saules aptumsumswhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Lithuanian saulės užtemimas
- saulės užtemimaswhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Malay gerhana matahari
- gerhana matahariwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Norwegian Bokmål solformørkelse
- solformørkelsewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Persian خورشیدگرفتگی, کسوف
- خورشیدگرفتگیwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- کسوفwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Polish zaćmienie Słońca
- zaćmienie Słońcawhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Portuguese eclipse solar, solcris
- eclipse solarwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- solcriswhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Romanian eclipsă solară, eclipsă de Soare
- eclipsă solarăwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- eclipsă de Soarewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Russian со́лнечное затме́ние
- со́лнечное затме́ние (sólnečnoje zatménije)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Slovak zatmenie Slnka
- zatmenie Slnkawhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Spanish eclipse solar
- eclipse solarwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Swahili kupatwa kwa jua
- kupatwa kwa juawhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Swedish solförmörkelse
- solförmörkelsewhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Thai สุริยคราส
- สุริยคราส (sù-rí-yá-krâat)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Turkish Güneş tutulması
- Güneş tutulmasıwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Ukrainian со́нячне зате́мнення
- со́нячне зате́мнення (sónjačne zatémnennja)when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Vietnamese nhật thực
- nhật thựcwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Welsh eclips haul, diffyg ar yr haul
- eclips haulwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- diffyg ar yr haulwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
- heulguddwhen the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun
Cite this entry
APA
solar eclipse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/solar%20eclipse
MLA
“solar eclipse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/solar%20eclipse. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “solar eclipse,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/solar%20eclipse.
Source: solar eclipse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.