What does solstice mean?
Word: Solstice
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Solstice means one of the two days in the year when the Sun is at its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, giving the longest day or the shortest day.
Word origin: From Latin solstitium, made from the words for sun and for standing still, because the Sun seems to pause before turning back.
How do you spell solstice?
Syllables: sol - stice
Tricky part: There is an s before the t, and it is easy to drop it and write soltice.
Watch out for: soltice, solstis, solstece
Memory tip: Picture the Sun standing still over a stone circle: solstice has an s just before its t, as standing does.
Solstice in a sentence
Example 1: The summer solstice is the longest day of the year in Britain.
Example 2: Around the winter solstice, it gets dark very early.
Example 3: Our science teacher showed us how the Earth's tilt causes the solstice.
Fun Fact
At Stonehenge in England, the Sun rises close to the line of the Heel Stone around the summer solstice, and thousands of people gather to watch.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) solstise
b) equinox
c) eclipse
d) horizon
Show answer
a) solstise. Solstice ends with -stice, spelt with a c.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
sollstice
a) l
b) c
c) s
d) t
Show answer
a) l. Sol, meaning sun, has just one l.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tlsoseci
a) solitude
b) closets
c) lotions
d) solstice
Show answer
d) solstice. Closets misses the i, and lotions and solitude need an n or a u and d; solstice uses all eight letters.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
On the day of the summer solstice, we measured the shaddow of a pole at noon.
a) measured
b) solstice
c) shaddow
d) pole
Show answer
c) shaddow. Shadow has a single d; solstice here is spelt correctly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In Britain, the summer solstice falls in which month?
a) March
b) June
c) December
d) September
Show answer
b) June
2. In the Northern Hemisphere, the night of the winter solstice is ____.
a) the longest of the year
b) as long as the day
c) the shortest of the year
d) the same as any other
Show answer
a) the longest of the year
