A solar halo.Apostles Luke and John, with heads enclosed in halosA medical head-neck haloThe halo, a U-shaped loop rising in front of the driverThe first letter "o" in "Good" is sporting a ring halo, frequently found with fictional angels
FromLatinhalōs, fromAncient Greekἅλως(hálōs,“threshing floor; disk; disk of the sun or moon; ring of light around the sun or moon”), of unknown origin. The threshing floor's circular threshold or oxen walking on it in a circle gave rise to the other meanings. Used in English since 1563; the sense of light around someone’s head since 1646.
2016, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Health and Medicine Division, Food and Nutrition Board,Food Literacy: How Do Communications and Marketing Impact Consumer Knowledge, Skills, and Behavior?, page51:
In both cases, they found that[…] there was a halo effect (e.g., when a "low cholesterol" claim was made, consumers perceived other nutrients, such as fat, also to be at low levels when they were actually high). Andrews reported that these misleadinghalos were reduced only when the claims were accompanied by an evaluative disclosure[…]
(art,religion, iconography) a circular annulusring, frequently luminous, often golden, floating above the head
FromLatinhalos, fromAncient Greekἅλως(hálōs,“disk of the sun or moon, ring of light around the sun or moon; threshing floor; disk of a shield”), itself of unknown origin.
M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols,Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]
To avoid confusion with the abovehalo, the authors of thePlena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto recommend including the particlelo or adding a space ("ha lo").
“halo”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved1 July 2023
FromLatinhalos, fromAncient Greekἅλως(hálōs,“disk of the sun or moon, ring of light around the sun or moon; threshing floor; disk of a shield”), itself of unknown origin.
halo: a circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere.
Possibly a denominal ofProto-Indo-European*h₂enh₁-slo-(“a breathing”,whence Latinanhēlus), from the root*h₂enh₁-(“to breathe”). The syncope of the second syllable is expected, while the/h-/ is unetymological and likelyonomatopoeic.[1][2] Ultimately akin toanimus(“spirit”).
Ipsa Paphum sublimis abit sedesque revisit Laeta suas ubi templum illi centumque Sabaeo Ture calent arae sertisque recentibushalant.
[Venus] goes flying back to Paphos and sees happily again her seat Where there is a temple to her and a hundred altars That warmly glow with Sheban incense andare perfumed by fresh wreaths.
^De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “hālō, -āre”, inEtymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill,→ISBN,page279
FromEnglishhalo, fromLatinhalōs, fromAncient Greekἅλως(hálōs,“threshing floor; disk; disk of the sun or moon; ring of light around the sun or moon”), of unknown origin.
halo(circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon, etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere)
(astronomy)halo(cloud of gas and other matter surrounding and captured by the gravitational field of a large diffuse astronomical object, such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies)
(photography)halo(luminous border in a photograph around shiny or reflective objects)
(literary)halo(metaphorical aura of glory, veneration, or sentiment which surrounds an idealized entity)
halo(circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon, etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere)
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