northern lights

American  

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. aurora borealis.

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northern lights British  

plural noun

1. another name for aurora borealis

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northern lights Scientific  

1. See under aurora

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northern lights Cultural  

1. See aurora borealis.

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Usage

What are the northern lights? The northern lights are the shimmering display of lights that sometimes appears in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. The phenomenon is also commonly called the aurora borealis. The northern lights are an aurora—a natural light display in the sky that is caused by particles from the sun interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. The word borealis is Latin for boreal, which simply means “northern.” The northern lights appear in many colors ranging from green and pink to red, yellow, and blue. Auroras are not exclusive to Earth and occur on every planet in our solar system except Mercury. And the northern lights are not the only aurora on Earth. The aurora in the Southern Hemisphere is called the southern lights or aurora australis. Both the northern and southern versions can be called aurora polaris because they occur around Earth’s poles, but this term is not commonly used. The northern lights dazzle the many people who travel to see the natural light show, which is considered one of Earth’s most magical phenomena.

Etymology

Origin of northern lights

First recorded in 1715–25

Example Sentences

The northern lights were captured for the second night in a row across the United Kingdom.

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026

A few days before Christmas, Dasher is soaring alone through skies illuminated by the northern lights when, upon landing, she meets a polar bear.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

The couple named their child Aurora for their love of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights.

From Salon • Jan. 2, 2025

It’s hard not to consider humankind’s own future in this region-unspecified, newly aquatic land where mountaintops are islands, northern lights dazzle and finger-like towers that seem man-made dot the background.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2024

Time passed, fountains of the magnetic northern lights came and went, and the moon waxed and waned many times.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George