syzygial


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syz·y·gy

 (sĭz′ə-jē)
n. pl. syz·y·gies
1. Astronomy
a. Either of two points in the orbit of a solar system body where the body is in opposition to or in conjunction with the sun.
b. Either of two points in the orbit of the moon when the moon lies in a straight line with the sun and Earth.
c. The configuration of the sun, the moon, and Earth lying in a straight line.
2. The combining of two feet into a single metrical unit in classical prosody.

[Late Latin sȳzygia, from Greek suzugiā, union, from suzugos, paired : sun-, su-, syn- + zugon, yoke; see yeug- in Indo-European roots.]

sy·zyg′i·al (sĭ-zĭj′ē-əl) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Fine structure of syzygial articulations before and after arm autotomy in Florometra serratissima (Echinodermata: Crinoidea).
It occurs primarily during syzygial tides around the spring equinox when the river is at the flood stage.
The variable stretch resistance of the CA was thus ascribed to variations in the strength of the linkages between adjacent fibrils, as had been deduced for other echinoderm collagenous structures, such as the ophiuroid intervertebral ligament (17) and crinoid syzygial ligament (18).