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"Salida del Sol" is sunrise - but doesn't that literally mean "Exit of the Sun"?

Why isn't sunrise "Entrada del Sol" instead?

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  • 1
    "Salida" is also the word used to define the "Start" of something.
    – fedorqui
    Commented Jul 6, 2014 at 13:41
  • The sun is "coming out of hiding." We say exactly the same thing in English for the moon: "Oh look, the moon is coming out!" means the moon is appearing--not disappearing.
    – Flimzy
    Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 14:54

4 Answers 4

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Because there are another words that can be used, and less used by people I copy two paragraphs from Ministerio de Fomento:

Orto (salida) del Sol

Denominamos orto o salida del sol al instante que corresponde a la aparición del borde superior del Sol en un horizonte(*) hipotético en que no se considera el relieve del horizonte real, ni obstáculos cercanos (casas, árboles), ni la presencia de nubes o niebla.

Ocaso (puesta) del Sol

Denominamos ocaso o puesta del sol al instante que corresponde a la desaparición del borde superior del Sol en un horizonte hipotético en que no se considera el relieve del horizonte real, ni obstáculos cercanos (casas, árboles), ni la presencia de nubes o niebla.

The translation you are doing is the first meaning of salir:

  1. intr. Pasar de dentro a fuera.

If we consider dentro as the visible part and fuera as the hidden part, but in this case we use the 5th meaning:

  1. intr. Aparecer, manifestarse, descubrirse.

(*)The Sun appears on the horizon.

El Sol aparece/sale por el horizonte > Salida del Sol

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Yes, "Salida" mean "Exit" but "Salida" here is like "The coming out", for example "La salida es el viernes por la mañana" it's "The trip is on friday morning" because in a trip we are going out somewhere. So, here the sun is coming out of where is hidden. In spanish we can say that the sun "Sale en la mañana" in the rise and "se mete" or "se oculta en la noche" in the sunset so it's like saying the sun comes out and the sun hides.

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In spanish the word "salida" means both "exit" (in general) and "start" (of a race, course or circuit).

So, when the judge fires the gun and all the athletes start running 100m, it is "la salida" of the race. In a bicycle race, bikers go from "la salida" to "la meta".

Think on it like the runners, or the sun, is going out from some place: out from the start line, or out from the horizon. This is how it was constructed in spanish.

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To "salir" is to "go out."

When used to described the movements of the sun, the analogy is that the sun is "going out" of the ground or earth, into the sky.

It's just a matter of idiom: In English, we say that the sun is "rising" in the sky. In Spanish, we say the sun is "going out," relative to the ground.

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