资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Equator \E*qua"tor\, n. [L. aequator one who equalizes: cf. F.
   ['e]quateur equator. See {Equate}.]
   1. (Geog.) The imaginary great circle on the earth's surface,
      everywhere equally distant from the two poles, and
      dividing the earth's surface into two hemispheres.

   2. (Astron.) The great circle of the celestial sphere,
      coincident with the plane of the earth's equator; -- so
      called because when the sun is in it, the days and nights
      are of equal length; hence called also the {equinoctial},
      and on maps, globes, etc., the {equinoctial line}.

   {Equator} {of the sun or of a planet} (Astron.), the great
      circle whose plane passes through through the center of
      the body, and is perpendicular to its axis of revolution.
      

   {Magnetic equator}. See {Aclinic}.