Definition of "vernal equinox" []

• The point at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator, the sun having a northerly motion. (noun)
• The moment at which the sun passes through the vernal equinox, about March 21, marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Simi - larly, horoscopes were cast at every vernal equinox to decide the year's events, a practice popular in Europe until the seventeenth century and still extensively practiced in India."
• "The details are deter - mined by the horoscopic diagram of the vernal equinox of the year in which the conjunction takes place."
• "The Persian festival of the vernal equinox was called Kusehnishín (Thin-beard sitting)."