Sothic year


noun

the fixed year of the ancient Egyptians, determined by the heliacal rising of Sirius, and equivalent to 365 days.

Origin of Sothic year

First recorded in 1820–30; Soth(is) + -ic

British Dictionary definitions for sothic year

Sothic year

noun

the fixed year of the ancient Egyptians, 365 days 6 hours long, beginning with the appearance of the star Sirius on the eastern horizon at dawn, which heralded the yearly flooding of the Nile. A Sothic cycle contained 1460 such years