Standard Lemma guide

parhelion

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /pɑːˈhiː.lɪ.ən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /pɑɹˈhi.li.ən/
  • rhymes with -iːliən

1

noun

Meaning 1

Synonym of sun dog (“a bright spot in the sky, usually one of two on the parhelic circle on both sides of the sun (or occasionally above and below it), caused by the refraction of the sun's image through ice crystals”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mock sun, sun dog

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An image or reflection.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a bright spot on the parhelic circle; caused by diffraction by ice crystals

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • two or more parhelia are usually seen at once

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mock sun, sundog

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: spot, speckle, dapple, patch, fleck, maculation

History

Etymology

From Latin parelion, from Ancient Greek παρήλιον (parḗlion), from παρά (pará) + ἥλιος (hḗlios, “sun”).

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: parhelium — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Armenian: պարհելիում (parhelium) — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Basque: parelio — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Bulgarian: пархелий (parhelij) — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Catalan: parheli — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Czech: parhelium — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Dutch: parhelium — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Estonian: parheelia — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • French: parhélie — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Hungarian: parhelion — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Indonesian: parhelion — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Italian: parelio — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Latin: parhēlium — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Luxembourgish: parhelion — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Polish: parhelion — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Portuguese: parélio — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Russian: парге́лий (pargélij) — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Slovene: parhelij — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Spanish: parhelio — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Ukrainian: паргелій (parhelij) — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog
  • Welsh: parhelion — synonym of sun dog (cognates) — see also sun dog