Ecliptic
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( a.) A great circle of the celestial sphere, making an angle with the equinoctial of about 23¡ 28'. It is the apparent path of the sun, or the real path of the earth as seen from the sun.
(2): ( a.) A great circle drawn on a terrestrial globe, making an angle of 23¡ 28' with the equator; - used for illustrating and solving astronomical problems.
(3): ( a.) Pertaining to the ecliptic; as, the ecliptic way.
(4): ( a.) Pertaining to an eclipse or to eclipses.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]
The name given to the circular path in the heavens round which the sun appears to move in the course of the year, an illusion caused by the earth's annual circuit round the sun, with its axis inclined at an angle to the equator of 23½ degrees; is the central line of the Zodiac ( q. v .), so called because it was observed that eclipses occurred only when the earth was on or close upon this path.
