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In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice usually occurs on June 20 or 21 and the winter solstice on December 21 or 22. In the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed, the solstices are exactly the opposite. For several days around the time of the solstices, the sun's appearance on the horizon at sunrise and sunset seems to occur at the same spot, before it starts drifting to the north or south again. Solstice gets its shine from sol, the Latin word for "sun." The ancients added sol to -stit- (a participial stem of sistere, which means "to stand still") and came up with solstitium. Middle English speakers shortened solstitium to solstice in the 14th century.
Examples of solstice in a Sentence
Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 22 July 2025
Since the sun is currently close to its highest (summer solstice occurred on June 20), the full moon is close to its lowest.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
Meteorological summer begins on June 1, while astronomical summer — marked by the June solstice — starts on June 20.
—Diana Leyva, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
Visible planets On June 25 the sun sets at 8:31 p.m. in New York, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory; just five days after the solstice (June 20), so in the Northern Hemisphere days are still quite long.
—Jesse Emspak, Space.com, 25 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Solstice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/solstice. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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solstice
noun
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