Adjacent Words

Orbit definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ORB'IT, n. [L. orbita, a trace or track, from orbis, a wheel.]
1. In astronomy, the path of a planet or comet; the curve line which a planet describes in its periodical revolution round its central body; as the orbit of Jupiter or Mercury. The orbit of the earth is nearly one hundred and ninety millions of miles in diameter. The orbit of the moon is 480,000 miles in diameter. The orbits of the planets are elliptical.
2. A small orb. [Not proper.]
3. In anatomy, the cavity in which the eye is situated.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the (usually elliptical) path described by one celestial body in its revolution about another; "he plotted the orbit of the moon" [syn: orbit, celestial orbit]
2: a particular environment or walk of life; "his social sphere is limited"; "it was a closed area of employment"; "he's out of my orbit" [syn: sphere, domain, area, orbit, field, arena]
3: an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"; "a piano has a greater range than the human voice"; "the ambit of municipal legislation"; "within the compass of this article"; "within the scope of an investigation"; "outside the reach of the law"; "in the political orbit of a world power" [syn: scope, range, reach, orbit, compass, ambit]
4: the path of an electron around the nucleus of an atom [syn: orbit, electron orbit]
5: the bony cavity in the skull containing the eyeball [syn: eye socket, orbit, cranial orbit, orbital cavity] v
1: move in an orbit; "The moon orbits around the Earth"; "The planets are orbiting the sun"; "electrons orbit the nucleus" [syn: orb, orbit, revolve]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin orbita, from Latin, rut, track, probably from orbis Date: 15th century the bony socket of the eye • orbital adjective II. noun Etymology: Latin orbita path, rut, orbit Date: 1696 1. a. a path described by one body in its revolution about another (as by the earth about the sun or by an electron about an atomic nucleus); also one complete revolution of a body describing such a path b. a circular path 2. a range or sphere of activity or influence <within the president's orbit> Synonyms: see range • orbital adjective III. verb Date: 1943 transitive verb 1. to revolve in an orbit around ; circle 2. to send up and make revolve in an orbit <orbit a satellite> intransitive verb to travel in circles

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a the curved, usu. closed course of a planet, satellite, etc. b (prec. by in, into, out of, etc.) the state of motion in an orbit. c one complete passage around an orbited body. 2 the path of an electron round an atomic nucleus. 3 a range or sphere of action. 4 a the eye socket. b the area around the eye of a bird or insect. --v. (orbited, orbiting) 1 intr. a (of a satellite etc.) go round in orbit. b fly in a circle. 2 tr. move in orbit round. 3 tr. put into orbit. Derivatives: orbiter n. Etymology: L orbita course, track (in med.L eye-cavity): fem. of orbitus circular f. orbis ring

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Orbit Or"bit, n. [L. orbita a track or rut made by a wheel, course, circuit, fr. orbis a circle: cf. F. orbite. See 2d Orb.] 1. (Astron.) The path described by a heavenly body in its periodical revolution around another body; as, the orbit of Jupiter, of the earth, of the moon. 2. An orb or ball. [Rare & Improper] Roll the lucid orbit of an eye. --Young. 3. (Anat.) The cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. 4. (Zo["o]l.) The skin which surrounds the eye of a bird.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(orbits, orbiting, orbited) 1. An orbit is the curved path in space that is followed by an object going round and round a planet, moon, or star. Mars and Earth have orbits which change with time... The planet is probably in orbit around a small star. N-COUNT: also in/into N 2. If something such as a satellite orbits a planet, moon, or sun, it moves around it in a continuous, curving path. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite to orbit the earth. = circle VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Orb, circular path (of a celestial body). 2. (Anat.) Cavity of the eye.

Moby Thesaurus

Earth insertion, LEM, LM, O, air lane, ambit, annular muscle, annulus, aphelion, apogee, area, arena, areola, astronomical longitude, attitude-control rocket, aureole, autumnal equinox, bailiwick, ball, ballistic capsule, balloon, beat, bladder, blob, boll, bolus, border, borderland, bubble, bulb, bulbil, bulblet, burn, capsule, celestial equator, celestial longitude, celestial meridian, chaplet, circle, circling, circuit, circuiteer, circuition, circuitousness, circuitry, circularity, circulate, circulation, circumambience, circumambiency, circumambulate, circumambulation, circumference, circumflexion, circumlocution, circummigrate, circummigration, circumnavigate, circumnavigation, circumvent, circus, close the circle, closed circle, colures, come full circle, compass, constituency, corona, coronet, course, crown, cycle, deep-space ship, demesne, department, describe a circle, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness, diadem, digression, discipline, discus, disk, docking, docking maneuver, domain, dominion, ecliptic, ellipsoid, encircle, encompass, equator, equinoctial, equinoctial circle, equinoctial colure, equinox, eternal return, excursion, excursus, extension, extent, fairy ring, ferry rocket, field, flank, flight path, footing, fuel ship, full circle, galactic longitude, garland, geocentric longitude, geodetic longitude, geoid, girdle, girdle the globe, globe, globelet, globoid, globule, glomerulus, glory, go about, go around, go round, go the round, gob, gobbet, great circle, gyre, gyring, halo, heliocentric longitude, hemisphere, indirection, injection, insertion, itinerary, judicial circuit, jurisdiction, knob, knot, lap, lasso, line, logical circle, longitude, loop, looplet, lunar excursion module, lunar module, magic circle, make a circuit, manned rocket, march, meandering, meridian, module, moon ship, multistage rocket, noose, oblate spheroid, orb, orbiting, orblet, pale, parking orbit, path, pellet, perigee, perihelion, period, precinct, primrose path, prolate spheroid, province, purview, radius, reach, realm, reentry, revolution, revolve, ring, road, rocket, rondelle, rondure, round, round trip, roundaboutness, roundel, rounding, rounds, route, run, saucer, scope, sea lane, shortcut, shuttle rocket, skirt, small circle, soft landing, solstitial colure, space capsule, space docking, space rocket, spacecraft, spaceship, sphere, sphere of influence, spheroid, spherule, sphincter, spiral, spiraling, stamping ground, subdiscipline, surround, sweep, territory, tour, track, trade route, traject, trajectory, trajet, turf, turn, turning, vantage, vernal equinox, vicious circle, walk, wheel, wheeling, wreath, zodiac, zone