Adjacent Words

Planet definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PLAN'ET, n. [L. planeta; Gr. wandering, to wander, allied to L. planus. See Plant.] A celestial body which revolves about the sun or other center, or a body revolving about another planet as its center. The planets which revolve about the sun as their center, are called primary planets; those which revolve about other planets as their center, and with them revolve about the sun, are called secondary planets, satellites or moons. The primary planets are named Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Herschell. Four smaller planets, denominated by some, asteroids, namely, Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta, have recently been discovered between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Herschell, being without the earth's orbit, are sometimes called the superior planets; Venus and Mercury, being within the earth's orbit, are called inferior planets. The planets are opake bodies which receive their light from the sun. They are so named from their motion or revolution, in distinction from the fixed stars,and are distinguished from the latter by their not twinkling.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction [syn: planet, major planet]
2: a person who follows or serves another [syn: satellite, planet]
3: any celestial body (other than comets or satellites) that revolves around a star

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English planete, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin planeta, modification of Greek plan?t-, plan?s, literally, wanderer, from planasthai to wander — more at floor Date: 13th century 1. a. any of the seven celestial bodies sun, moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Saturn that in ancient belief have motions of their own among the fixed stars b. (1) any of the large bodies that revolve around the sun in the solar system (2) a similar body associated with another star c. earth — usually used with the 2. a celestial body held to influence the fate of human beings 3. a person or thing of great importance ; luminary • planetlike adjective

Britannica Concise

Any large body orbiting the sun or another star (see planets of other stars), usually comets, meteoroids (see meteor), or satellites of a larger body. The word comes from the Greek for "wanderer," because their positions change relative to those of the stars. The nine major planets known to revolve around the sun, in order of distance from it, are Mercury, Venus, earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The first four are called terrestrial planets and the next four Jovian planets. Pluto, distinct from either group, resembles the icy satellites of the Jovian planets. The terrestrial planets are less than 8,000 mi (13,000 km) in diameter and rocky, with comparatively thin or negligible atmospheres. The sun's heat is thought to have prevented the abundant gases in the original solar nebula from condensing in them. The Jovian planets formed farther out, where the gases were cool enough to condense, so the planets grew very massive and retained huge atmospheres of light gases, mainly hydrogen and helium. Called gas giants, the Jovian planets appear to be similar in structure; none has an accessible surface. Pluto is by far the smallest major planet. There may be planets beyond it (e.g., Planet X). The inner and outer planets are separated by tens of thousands of minor planets, making up the asteroid belt. In astrology, great importance is placed on the planets' positions in the 12 constellations of the zodiac. See also planetesimal, planets of other stars.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit round a star; the earth. 2 esp. Astrol. hist. a celestial body distinguished from the fixed stars by having an apparent motion of its own (including the moon and sun), esp. with reference to its supposed influence on people and events. Derivatives: planetology n. Etymology: ME f. OF planete f. LL planeta, planetes f. Gk planetes wanderer, planet f. planaomai wander

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Planet Plan"et, n. [OE. planete, F. plan[`e]te, L. planeta, fr. Gr. ?, and ? a planet; prop. wandering, fr. ? to wander, fr. ? a wandering.] 1. (Astron.) A celestial body which revolves about the sun in an orbit of a moderate degree of eccentricity. It is distinguished from a comet by the absence of a coma, and by having a less eccentric orbit. See Solar system. Note: The term planet was first used to distinguish those stars which have an apparent motion through the constellations from the fixed stars, which retain their relative places unchanged. The inferior planets are Mercury and Venus, which are nearer to the sun than is the earth; the superior planets are Mars, the asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which are farther from the sun than is the earth. Primary planets are those which revolve about the sun; secondary planets, or moons, are those which revolve around the primary planets as satellites, and at the same time revolve with them about the sun. 2. A star, as influencing the fate of a men. There's some ill planet reigns. --Shak. Planet gear. (Mach.) See Epicyclic train, under Epicyclic. Planet wheel, a gear wheel which revolves around the wheel with which it meshes, in an epicyclic train.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(planets) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. A planet is a large, round object in space that moves around a star. The Earth is a planet. The picture shows six of the nine planets in the solar system. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, Uranus, Venus, asteroid, globe, inferior planet, major planet, minor planet, planetoid, secondary planet, solar system, superior planet, terrestrial planet, wanderer, world