tropical Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite relating to or situated in or characteristic of the tropics (the region on either side of the equator)
    tropic.
    • tropical islands
    • tropical fruit
  2. adjective of or relating to the tropics, or either tropic
    • tropical year
  3. adjective satellite characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense
  4. adjective satellite of weather or climate; hot and humid as in the tropics
    tropic.
    • tropical weather

WordNet

Trop"ic*al adjective
Etymology
Cf. L. tropicus of turning, Gr. . See Tropic, n.
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to the tropics; characteristic of, or incident to, the tropics; being within the tropics; as, tropical climate; tropical latitudes; tropical heat; tropical diseases.
  2. From Trope. Rhetorically changed from its exact original sense; being of the nature of a trope; figurative; metaphorical. Jer. Taylor.
    The foundation of all parables is some analogy or similitude between the tropical or allusive part of the parable and the thing intended by it. South.

Webster 1913