equinox

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 20, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>equinox</strong> &#149; \EE-kwuh-nahks\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> either of the two points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator intersects the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecliptic#h2">ecliptic</a></p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> either of the two times each year (as about March 21 and September 23) when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are everywhere on earth of approximately equal length</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The first recorded New Year’s celebration traces back to Mesopotamia, where 4,000 years ago the ancient Babylonians kicked off an 11-day festival called Akitu on the vernal <em>equinox</em>." — <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/why-is-january-1-the-beginning-of-a-new-year">Cody Cottier, <em>Discover</em> (discovermagazine.com), 30 Dec. 2020</a></p> <p>"Groundhog Day's origins lie in the ancient European celebration of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Candlemas">Candlemas</a>, which is a point midway between the winter solstice and the spring <em>equinox</em>—the exact midpoint of astronomical winter." — <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/29/groundhog-day-tuesday-what-will-punxsutawney-phil-say/4283871001/">Doyle Rice, <em>USA Today</em>, 2 Feb. 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Equinox</em> descends from <em>aequus</em>, the Latin word for "equal" or "even," and <em>nox</em>, the Latin word for "night"—a fitting history for a word that describes days of the year when the daytime and nighttime are equal in length. In the northern hemisphere, the vernal equinox marks the first day of spring and occurs when the sun moves north across the equator. (<em><a href="https://www.merriam-webs