From Late Latin tropicus (“of or pertaining to the solstice, as a noun, one of the tropics”), from Ancient Greek τροπικός (tropikós, “of or pertaining to a turn or change; or the solstice; or a trope or figure; tropic; tropical; etc.”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”).
- Rhymes: -ɒpɪk
tropic (plural tropics)
- Either of the two parallels of latitude 23°27′north and south of the equator; the farthest points at which the sun can be directly overhead; the boundaries of the torrid zone or tropics.
- Of, or relating to the tropics; tropical.
- (weather, climate) hot and humid.
- (biochemistry) (noncomparative) Having the quality of indirectly inducing a biological or chemical change in a system or substrate.
- The binding of oxygen to hemoglobin is allosterically regulated by various tropic factors, such as BPG and acidity.
- ^ “Trophic vs. Tropic”, Werner Steinberg, JAMA, May 3, 1952, 149(1), p. 82, doi:10.1001/jama.1952.02930180084027.
- Noah Webster (1913), “tropic”, in Noah Porter, editor, Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam Company
- “tropic”, in The Century Dictionary, New York: The Century Co., 1911
- tropic at OneLook Dictionary Search