ecliptic
The great circle on the celestial sphere that is the mean apparent path of the sun as viewed from the earth.
Other meanings
The plane in which this great circle lies.
A great circle drawn on a terrestrial globe, used for illustrating and solving astronomical problems.
Word history
From Latin "eclīptica".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “ecliptic” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.