horizon

noun

huh-RY-zuhn/həˈɹaɪ.zən/

7 meanings of horizon

1
nouncountable
The faraway line where the sky seems to meet the ground or the sea.
The sun dipped below the horizon as we walked home.
Sailors watched the horizon for the first sight of land.
Similarskyline
Note
2
nounfigurativelycountable
The limit of what someone knows, has done, or cares about.
Learning a new language can widen your horizon.
Meeting people from other countries broadened their horizons.
Similarscope, range, outlook, perspective, limit
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3
nouncountable
The outer limit of any span you live within, such as time or space.
Time gives us a horizon that we all live within.
Each life has its own horizons of space and time.
Similarlimit, boundary, bound, confines
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4
nouncountable
A flat, level line or surface of any kind.
With no sea in sight, the sailor used a still bowl of water as a horizon to measure the sun.
The builder drew a horizon in pencil along the wall so every picture would hang straight.
Similarlevel, horizontal, plane
5
nouncountable
A layer of soil or rock that lies under or over other layers.
Like the different colored layers you can see in a slice of cake.
The dark horizon near the surface was rich in nutrients.
Farmers dug down to study each horizon in the field.
Similarlayer, stratum, bed, level
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6
nounUScountable
A short cultural period found within a longer span of history.
Like a single fashion trend that shows up everywhere for a short time.
Diggers found pottery from an early horizon at the site.
Each horizon showed a new style of tools and pots.
Similarphase, period, level, stage, stratum
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7
nouncountable
In computer chess, the point where the program stops looking ahead at moves.
Like only being able to plan a few steps ahead in a game.
The engine missed the trap because it lay beyond its horizon.
A deeper search pushes the horizon further ahead.
Similardepth, limit, cutoff
Note

Practice

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Origin

It came through Middle English and French from Latin, from Greek 'horízōn', based on 'hóros' meaning 'boundary'.