sun

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
sun
    n 1: the star that is the source of light and heat for the
         planets in the solar system; "the sun contains 99.85% of
         the mass in the solar system"; "the Earth revolves around
         the Sun" [syn: {sun}, {Sun}]
    2: the rays of the sun; "the shingles were weathered by the sun
       and wind" [syn: {sunlight}, {sunshine}, {sun}]
    3: a person considered as a source of warmth or energy or glory
       etc
    4: any star around which a planetary system revolves
    5: first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship
       by most Christians [syn: {Sunday}, {Lord's Day}, {Dominicus},
       {Sun}]
    v 1: expose one's body to the sun [syn: {sun}, {sunbathe}]
    2: expose to the rays of the sun or affect by exposure to the
       sun; "insolated paper may turn yellow and crumble"; "These
       herbs suffer when sunned" [syn: {sun}, {insolate},
       {solarize}, {solarise}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sun \Sun\, n. (Bot.)
   See {Sunn}.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sun \Sun\, n. [OE. sunne, sonne, AS. sunne; akin to OFries.
   sunne, D. zon, OS. & OHG. sunna, G. sonne, Icel. sunna, Goth.
   sunna; perh. fr. same root as L. sol. [root]297. Cf. {Solar},
   {South}.]
   1. The luminous orb, the light of which constitutes day, and
      its absence night; the central body round which the earth
      and planets revolve, by which they are held in their
      orbits, and from which they receive light and heat. Its
      mean distance from the earth is about 92,500,000 miles,
      and its diameter about 860,000.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Its mean apparent diameter as seen from the earth is
         32' 4[sec], and it revolves on its own axis once in
         251/3 days. Its mean density is about one fourth of
         that of the earth, or 1.41, that of water being unity.
         Its luminous surface is called the photosphere, above
         which is an envelope consisting partly of hydrogen,
         called the chromosphere, which can be seen only through
         the spectroscope, or at the time of a total solar
         eclipse. Above the chromosphere, and sometimes
         extending out millions of miles, are luminous rays or
         streams of light which are visible only at the time of
         a total eclipse, forming the solar corona.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. Any heavenly body which forms the center of a system of
      orbs.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The direct light or warmth of the sun; sunshine.
      [1913 Webster]

            Lambs that did frisk in the sun.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. That which resembles the sun, as in splendor or
      importance; any source of light, warmth, or animation.
      [1913 Webster]

            For the Lord God is a sun and shield. --Ps. lxxiv.
                                                  11.
      [1913 Webster]

            I will never consent to put out the sun of
            sovereignity to posterity.            --Eikon
                                                  Basilike.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Sun and planet wheels} (Mach.), an ingenious contrivance for
      converting reciprocating motion, as that of the working
      beam of a steam engine, into rotatory motion. It consists
      of a toothed wheel (called the sun wheel), firmly secured
      to the shaft it is desired to drive, and another wheel
      (called the planet wheel) secured to the end of a
      connecting rod. By the motion of the connecting rod, the
      planet wheel is made to circulate round the central wheel
      on the shaft, communicating to this latter a velocity of
      revolution the double of its own. --G. Francis.

   {Sun angel} (Zool.), a South American humming bird of the
      genus {Heliangelos}, noted for its beautiful colors and
      the brilliant luster of the feathers of its throat.

   {Sun animalcute}. (Zool.) See {Heliozoa}.

   {Sun bath} (Med.), exposure of a patient to the sun's rays;
      insolation.

   {Sun bear} (Zool.), a species of bear ({Helarctos Malayanus})
      native of Southern Asia and Borneo. It has a small head
      and short neck, and fine short glossy fur, mostly black,
      but brownish on the nose. It is easily tamed. Called also
      {bruang}, and {Malayan bear}.

   {Sun beetle} (Zool.), any small lustrous beetle of the genus
      {Amara}.

   {Sun bittern} (Zool.), a singular South American bird
      ({Eurypyga helias}), in some respects related both to the
      rails and herons. It is beautifully variegated with white,
      brown, and black. Called also {sunbird}, and {tiger
      bittern}.

   {Sun fever} (Med.), the condition of fever produced by sun
      stroke.

   {Sun gem} (Zool.), a Brazilian humming bird ({Heliactin
      cornutus}). Its head is ornamented by two tufts of bright
      colored feathers, fiery crimson at the base and greenish
      yellow at the tip. Called also {Horned hummer}.

   {Sun grebe} (Zool.), the finfoot.

   {Sun picture}, a picture taken by the agency of the sun's
      rays; a photograph.

   {Sun spots} (Astron.), dark spots that appear on the sun's
      disk, consisting commonly of a black central portion with
      a surrounding border of lighter shade, and usually seen
      only by the telescope, but sometimes by the naked eye.
      They are very changeable in their figure and dimensions,
      and vary in size from mere apparent points to spaces of
      50,000 miles in diameter. The term sun spots is often used
      to include bright spaces (called faculae) as well as dark
      spaces (called maculae). Called also {solar spots}. See
      Illustration in Appendix.

   {Sun star} (Zool.), any one of several species of starfishes
      belonging to {Solaster}, {Crossaster}, and allied genera,
      having numerous rays.

   {Sun trout} (Zool.), the squeteague.

   {Sun wheel}. (Mach.) See {Sun and planet wheels}, above.

   {Under the sun}, in the world; on earth. "There is no new
      thing under the sun." --Eccl. i. 9.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Sun is often used in the formation of compound
         adjectives of obvious meaning; as, sun-bright,
         sun-dried, sun-gilt, sunlike, sun-lit, sun-scorched,
         and the like.
         [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sun \Sun\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sunned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Sunning}.]
   To expose to the sun's rays; to warm or dry in the sun; as,
   to sun cloth; to sun grain.
   [1913 Webster]

         Then to sun thyself in open air.         --Dryden.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sunn \Sunn\, n. [Hind. san, fr. Skr. [,c]ana.] (Bot.)
   An East Indian leguminous plant ({Crotalaria juncea}) and its
   fiber, which is also called {sunn hemp}. [Written also
   {sun}.]
   [1913 Webster]
    
from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
Sun
 n.

   Sun Microsystems. Hackers remember that the name was originally an
   acronym, Stanford University Network. Sun started out around 1980 with
   some hardware hackers (mainly) from Stanford talking to some software
   hackers (mainly) from UC Berkeley; Sun's original technology concept
   married a clever board design based on the Motorola 68000 to {BSD}
   Unix. Sun went on to lead the workstation industry through the 1980s,
   and for years afterwards remained an engineering-driven company and a
   good place for hackers to work. Though Sun drifted away from its
   techie origins after 1990 and has since made some strategic moves that
   disappointed and annoyed many hackers (especially by maintaining
   proprietary control of Java and rejecting Linux), it's still
   considered within the family in much the same way {DEC} was in the
   1970s and early 1980s.
    
from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Sun

   {Sun Microsystems}
    
from Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Sun
(Heb. shemesh), first mentioned along with the moon as the two
great luminaries of heaven (Gen. 1:14-18). By their motions and
influence they were intended to mark and divide times and
seasons. The worship of the sun was one of the oldest forms of
false religion (Job 31:26,27), and was common among the
Egyptians and Chaldeans and other pagan nations. The Jews were
warned against this form of idolatry (Deut. 4:19; 17:3; comp. 2
Kings 23:11; Jer. 19:13).
    
from U.S. Gazetteer (1990)
Sun, LA (village, FIPS 73955)
  Location: 30.64956 N, 89.90454 W
  Population (1990): 429 (202 housing units)
  Area: 10.9 sq km (land), 0.4 sq km (water)
    
from U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000)
Sun, LA -- U.S. village in Louisiana
   Population (2000):    471
   Housing Units (2000): 217
   Land area (2000):     4.319367 sq. miles (11.187108 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.143069 sq. miles (0.370547 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    4.462436 sq. miles (11.557655 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            73955
   Located within:       Louisiana (LA), FIPS 22
   Location:             30.650085 N, 89.900148 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):    
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Sun, LA
    Sun
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
128 Moby Thesaurus words for "sun":
      Amen-Ra, Apollo, Helios, Hyperion, Phoebus, Phoebus Apollo, Ra,
      Savitar, Shamash, Sol, Surya, Titan, abundant year, academic year,
      air-dry, anhydrate, annum, bake, bask, bissextile year, blot,
      brush, burn, calendar month, calendar year, candle, celestial body,
      century, chromosphere, common year, corona, cure, day, daylight,
      daystar, decade, decennary, decennium, defective year, dehumidify,
      dehydrate, desiccate, drain, dry, electric light bulb, evaporate,
      exsiccate, fire, fiscal year, flame, fortnight, glim, hour,
      illuminant, illuminator, incandescent body, insolate, kiln, lamp,
      lantern, leap year, light, light bulb, light source, luminant,
      luminary, lunar month, lunar year, lunation, luster, lustrum,
      man-hour, match, microsecond, millennium, millisecond, minute,
      moment, month, moon, mummify, orb, orb of day, parch, phoebus,
      photosphere, quarter, quinquennium, radiance, radiation,
      regular year, rub, scorch, sear, second, semester, session,
      shrivel, sidereal year, smoke, soak up, solar flare,
      solar prominence, solar wind, solar year, source of light, sponge,
      star, stars, sun-dry, sunbathe, sunlight, sunshine, swab, taper,
      term, torch, torrefy, towel, trimester, twelvemonth, weazen, week,
      weekday, wipe, wither, wizen, year

    

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