annulus vs halo

annulus

noun
  • A ring- or donut-shaped area or structure. 

  • The ring of the sun not covered by the moon in an annular solar eclipse. 

  • Structure in a fern that consists of differentially thick-walled cells on a sporangium that bend and distort as a result of drying. 

  • The region in a plane between two concentric circles of different radii. 

  • The membranous remnants of a partial veil which leaves a ring on the stem of a mushroom. 

  • The space contained between the centre well bore and any external tubing. Sometimes used for separated gas flow. 

  • Any topological space homeomorphic to the region in a plane between two concentric circles of different radius. 

halo

noun
  • a circular annulus ring, frequently luminous, often golden, floating above the head 

  • The metaphorical aura of glory, veneration or sentiment which surrounds an idealized entity. 

  • A circular brace used to keep the head and neck in position. 

  • nimbus, a luminous disc, often of gold, around or over the heads of saints, etc., in religious paintings. 

  • The bias caused by the halo effect. 

  • A cloud of gas and other matter surrounding and captured by the gravitational field of a large diffuse astronomical object, such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies. 

  • A rollbar placed in front of the driver, used to protect the cockpit of an open cockpit racecar. 

  • A circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere. 

  • Anything resembling this band, such as an effect caused by imperfect developing of photographs. 

verb
  • To encircle with a halo. 

How often have the words annulus and halo occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )