| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| syzygy |
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| SYLLABICATION: | syz·y·gy |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  s z  -j |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. syz·y·gies
1. Astronomy a. Either of two points in the orbit of a celestial body where the body is in opposition to or in conjunction with the sun. b. Either of two points in the orbit of the moon when the moon lies in a straight line with the sun and Earth. c. The configuration of the sun, the moon, and Earth lying in a straight line. 2. The combining of two feet into a single metrical unit in classical prosody. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Late Latin s zygia, from Greek suzugi , union, from suzugos, paired : sun-, su-, syn- + zugon, yoke; see yeug- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | sy·zygi·al (s-zj-l) —ADJECTIVE
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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