Saros
Origin
From Ancient Greek, from Akkadian.
The modern astronomical usage is attributed to Edmond Halley, who erroneously interpreted the Babylonian word as a period of 18.5 years.
Alternative forms
Full definition of saros
Noun
- (history, Babylon) A period of 3600 years.
- (astronomy) A period of 223 synodic months (approximately 18 years 11 days 8 hours), after which the relative positions of the earth, sun and moon recur, used to predict eclipses.