Aurochs
(Au"rochs) n. [G. auerochs, OHG. urohso; ur (cf. AS. ur) + ohso ox, G. ochs. Cf. Owre,
Ox.] (Zoöl.) The European bison (Bison bonasus, or Europæus), once widely distributed, but now nearly
extinct, except where protected in the Lithuanian forests, and perhaps in the Caucasus. It is distinct
from the Urus of Cæsar, with which it has often been confused.
Aurocyanide
(Au`ro*cy"a*nide) n. [Aurum + cyanide.] (Chem.) A double cyanide of gold and some
other metal or radical; — called also cyanaurate.
Aurora
(Au*ro"ra) n.; pl. E. Auroras L. (rarely used) Auroræ [L. aurora, for ausosa, akin to Gr. dawn,
Skr. ushas, and E. east.]
1. The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises.
2. The rise, dawn, or beginning. Hawthorne.
3. (Class. Myth.) The Roman personification of the dawn of day; the goddess of the morning. The
poets represented her a rising out of the ocean, in a chariot, with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew.
4. (Bot.) A species of crowfoot. Johnson.
5. The aurora borealis or aurora australis
Aurora borealis i. e., northern daybreak; popularly called northern lights. A luminous meteoric phenomenon,
visible only at night, and supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in
streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or bank, a few degrees above the northern horizon; when
reaching south beyond the zenith, it forms what is called the corona, about a spot in the heavens toward
which the dipping needle points. Occasionally the aurora appears as an arch of light across the heavens
from east to west. Sometimes it assumes a wavy appearance, and the streams of light are then called
merry dancers. They assume a variety of colors, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood color.
The Aurora australis is a corresponding phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, the streams of light
ascending in the same manner from near the southern horizon.
Auroral
(Au*ro"ral) a. Belonging to, or resembling, the aurora (the dawn or the northern lights); rosy.
Her cheeks suffused with an auroral blush.
Longfellow.
Aurous
(Au"rous) a.
1. Containing gold.
2. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, gold; — said of those compounds of gold in which this element
has its lower valence; as, aurous oxide.
