The Question: The word solstice comes from the Latin sōlstitium. Its root is sol meaning ‘sun’ and sistere, meaning what?
A Stand still
B Rise
C Stone
It literally translates to something along the lines of ‘the standing still of the Sun’ – perhaps a reference to the brief pause as the Sun reaches the highest point in the sky during the summer solstice, before reversing direction. After a few days of appearing to stand still, the highest point will start to drop each day until the winter solstice.
The correct answer is Stand still.