Hypertext Webster Gateway: "tropic"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tropic \Trop"ic\, a.
Of or pertaining to the tropics; tropical.
{Tropic bird} (Zo["o]l.), any one of three species of oceanic
belonging to the genus {Pha["e]thon}, found chiefly in
tropical seas. They are mostly white, and have two central
tail feathers very long and slender. The yellow-billed
tropic bird. {Pha["e]thon flavirostris} (called also
{boatswain}), is found on the Atlantic coast of America,
and is common at the Bermudas, where it breeds.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tropic \Trop"ic\, a. [Atropine + -ic.] (Chem.)
Of, pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from
atropine and certain other alkaloids, as a white crystalline
substance slightly soluble in water.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tropic \Trop"ic\, n. [F. tropique, L. tropicus of or belonging
to a turn, i. e., of the sun, Gr. ? of the solstice, ? (sc.
?) the tropic or solstice, fr. ? to turn. See {Trope}.]
1. (Astron.) One of the two small circles of the celestial
sphere, situated on each side of the equator, at a
distance of 23[deg] 28[min], and parallel to it, which the
sun just reaches at its greatest declination north or
south, and from which it turns again toward the equator,
the northern circle being called the {Tropic of Cancer},
and the southern the {Tropic of Capricorn}, from the names
of the two signs at which they touch the ecliptic.
2. (Geog.)
(a) One of the two parallels of terrestrial latitude
corresponding to the celestial tropics, and called by
the same names.
(b) pl. The region lying between these parallels of
latitude, or near them on either side.
The brilliant flowers of the tropics bloom from
the windows of the greenhouse and the saloon.
--Bancroft.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
tropic
adj 1: relating to or situated in or characteristic of the tropics
(the region on either side of the equator); "tropical
islands"; "tropical fruit" [syn: {tropical}]
2: of weather or climate; hot and humid as in the tropics;
"tropical weather" [syn: {tropical}]
n : either of two parallels of latitude about 23.5 degrees north
and south of the equator representing the points farthest
north and south at which the sun can shine directly
overhead and constituting the boundaries of the torrid
zone or tropics
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