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Solstice

Time And Calendar
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Either of the two annual points when daylight is longest or shortest. It often signifies an extreme, a turning point, or ritual renewal.

Detailed Definition
A solstice is one of the two yearly moments when the sun reaches its greatest northern or southern extent, producing the longest or shortest day. Summer and winter solstices have inspired ceremonies, myths, and poems across many cultures. Their sense of arrival at an extreme makes them powerful temporal emblems: the fullest light begins to diminish, or the deepest darkness begins to yield. Poets use solstice imagery for climax, reversal, endurance, and cosmic scale.
Example
Example in poetry:
The summer solstice can fill a poem with longest-day imagery, lingering light, flowers, and sleepless celebration; A winter solstice poem may focus on the year's shortest day and the small but certain return of light afterward; A speaker can visit an ancient stone circle at solstice, using the crowd's expectation to explore wonder and skepticism; Solstice is effective as a metaphor for an emotional extreme, the point after which a life must begin to turn
Additional Notes
The summer solstice brings the longest day, while the winter solstice brings the shortest. Both are useful symbols of climax, reversal, endurance, rebirth, and ritual attention to light.
Other Meanings of “Solstice”
Also Known As
Sun-Standing Midsummer Midwinter Solar Turning Point
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