par·he·lion
pär-ˈhēl-yən 
plural parhelia
pär-ˈhēl-yə
or parhelions
or parhelions
: any of several bright spots often tinged with color that often appear on the parhelic circle on either side of the sun
called also sun dog
1
2
: a small nearly round halo on the parhelic circle most frequently just outside the halo of 22 degrees
Examples of parhelion in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Graham Averill, Outside, 29 Jan. 2026
His soldiers learned much from the Inuit, including building igloos, deciphering the meaning of snowdrifts, ice fishing, hunting and butchering caribou — and observing the moon dog and sun dog.
—Norimitsu Onishi Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, New York Times, 4 June 2023
Half a sun dog indicates that death is coming for someone.
—Porter Fox, CNN, 29 Dec. 2021
Similar to sun dogs, lunar and solar halos belong to the family of ice halos, which are optical phenomena formed by the refraction of sun on hexagonal ice crystals suspended high up in the atmosphere, most commonly in cirrus clouds.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2018
But this picture also holds another interesting effect: sun dogs.
—Mika McKinnon, Smithsonian, 5 Feb. 2018
By exposing for the sun dog, so that some of the color in those bright highlights would be retained, the foreground wound up dark and rather murky.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2014
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Noun
So seeing a sun dog seems par for the course right now.
—Graham Averill, Outside, 29 Jan. 2026
His soldiers learned much from the Inuit, including building igloos, deciphering the meaning of snowdrifts, ice fishing, hunting and butchering caribou — and observing the moon dog and sun dog.
—Norimitsu Onishi Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, New York Times, 4 June 2023
Half a sun dog indicates that death is coming for someone.
—Porter Fox, CNN, 29 Dec. 2021
Similar to sun dogs, lunar and solar halos belong to the family of ice halos, which are optical phenomena formed by the refraction of sun on hexagonal ice crystals suspended high up in the atmosphere, most commonly in cirrus clouds.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2018
But this picture also holds another interesting effect: sun dogs.
—Mika McKinnon, Smithsonian, 5 Feb. 2018
By exposing for the sun dog, so that some of the color in those bright highlights would be retained, the foreground wound up dark and rather murky.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2014
Cite this Entry
“Parhelion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parhelion. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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