orbit
See also: Orbit
English
Diagram of a planet's orbit, illustrating Kepler's second law.
Alternative forms
- (eye socket) orbita
Etymology
From Middle English orbite, orbita, from Latin orbita (“course, track, impression, mark”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɔː.bɪt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔɹ.bɪt/
Audio (GA) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)bɪt
Noun
orbit (countable and uncountable, plural orbits)
- (astronomy) A circular or elliptical path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, moon, or Lagrange point, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
- Hyponyms: Clarke orbit, graveyard orbit, Hohmann transfer orbit, last photon orbit, Lissajous orbit, low Earth orbit, lunar orbit, Lyapunov orbit, Molniya orbit, osculating orbit, parking orbit, subsynchronous orbit, synchronous orbit
- One complete circuit round an orbited body.
- The Moon's orbit around the Earth takes nearly one month to complete.
- (uncountable) The state of moving in an orbit.
- (physics) The path of an electron around an atomic nucleus.
- (pinball) A path for the ball on the outer edge of the playfield, usually connected so that the ball entering in one end will come out of the other.
- A sphere of influence; an area or extent of activity, interest, or control.
- In the post WWII era, several eastern European countries came into the orbit of the Soviet Union.
- The convenience store was a heavily travelled point in her daily orbit, as she purchased both cigarettes and lottery tickets there.
- (anatomy) The bony cavity in the skull of a vertebrate containing the eyeball.
- Synonyms: eye socket, cranial orbit
- (zoology) The area around the eye of a bird or other animal.
- (mathematics) A collection of points related by the evolution function of a dynamical system.
- (geometry, group theory) The subset of elements of a set X to which a given element can be moved by members of a specified group of transformations that act on X.
- (informal) A state of increased excitement, activity, or anger.
- Dad went into orbit when I told him that I'd crashed the car.
- 2017 September 18, McGarry, Andrew, “AFL finals week two: The heroes and villains from the elimination semi-finals”, in ABC News, archived from the original on 2 October 2018:
- Given a veritable Pagan's Paddock by the Cats to work in on Friday night, Danger booted two goals in the first seven minutes to send Geelong fans into orbit.
Usage notes
When referring to astronomical orbits, "in orbit" and "on orbit" have somewhat different meanings. In general, a body is said to be "in orbit" if it is in freefall going around another body; while something happens "on orbit" if it occurs aboard an orbiting spacecraft. Thus one might say, "The space capsule is in orbit, and the astronauts inside are performing experiments on orbit."
Hyponyms
- escape orbit
- sun-synchronous orbit
- transfer orbit
Derived terms
- exorbitism
- interorbit
- midorbit
- orbital
- orbitary
- orbitational
- orbiter
- orbit-stabilizer theorem
- periorbit
- single-stage-to-orbit
- suborbit
- three-stage-to-orbit
- two-stage-to-orbit
Translations
path of one object around another
|
sphere of influence
|
area of activity
|
eye socket — see eye socket
Verb
orbit (third-person singular simple present orbits, present participle orbiting, simple past and past participle orbited)
- (astronomy) To circle or revolve around another object or position.
- The Earth orbits the Sun.
- The satellite orbits the Lagrange point.
- To place an object (e.g. a satellite) into an orbit around a planet.
- A rocket was used to orbit the satellite.
- Synonym: launch
- To move around the general vicinity of something.
- The harried mother had a cloud of children orbiting her, begging for sweets.
- Synonyms: circumambulate, tag along
- To move in a circle.
- (transitive) To center (around).
- 2013, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight, spoken by Jesse (Ethan Hawke):
- I have orbited my entire life around you, and you know it, okay?
-
- (transitive, dating) To continue to follow and/or engage with someone via social media after breaking up with them.
Antonyms
- deorbit
Translations
circle another object
|
place an object into an orbit
|
move around the general vicinity of
|
See also
- satellite
References
- “orbit”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “orbit”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Anagrams
- Brito-, tribo-
Azerbaijani
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin orbita.
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Noun
orbit (definite accusative orbiti, plural orbitlər)
- (astronomy) orbit
- Synonym: (archaic) mədar
Declension
| Declension of orbit | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |||||||
| nominative | orbit | orbitlər | ||||||
| definite accusative | orbiti | orbitləri | ||||||
| dative | orbitə | orbitlərə | ||||||
| locative | orbitdə | orbitlərdə | ||||||
| ablative | orbitdən | orbitlərdən | ||||||
| definite genitive | orbitin | orbitlərin | ||||||
| Possessive forms of orbit | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ||||||||
| singular | plural | |||||||
| mənim (“my”) | orbitim | orbitlərim | ||||||
| sənin (“your”) | orbitin | orbitlərin | ||||||
| onun (“his/her/its”) | orbiti | orbitləri | ||||||
| bizim (“our”) | orbitimiz | orbitlərimiz | ||||||
| sizin (“your”) | orbitiniz | orbitləriniz | ||||||
| onların (“their”) | orbiti or orbitləri | orbitləri | ||||||
| accusative | ||||||||
| singular | plural | |||||||
| mənim (“my”) | orbitimi | orbitlərimi | ||||||
| sənin (“your”) | orbitini | orbitlərini | ||||||
| onun (“his/her/its”) | orbitini | orbitlərini | ||||||
| bizim (“our”) | orbitimizi | orbitlərimizi | ||||||
| sizin (“your”) | orbitinizi | orbitlərinizi | ||||||
| onların (“their”) | orbitini or orbitlərini | orbitlərini | ||||||
| dative | ||||||||
| singular | plural | |||||||
| mənim (“my”) | orbitimə | orbitlərimə | ||||||
| sənin (“your”) | orbitinə | orbitlərinə | ||||||
| onun (“his/her/its”) | orbitinə | orbitlərinə | ||||||
| bizim (“our”) | orbitimizə | orbitlərimizə | ||||||
| sizin (“your”) | orbitinizə | orbitlərinizə | ||||||
| onların (“their”) | orbitinə or orbitlərinə | orbitlərinə | ||||||
| locative | ||||||||
| singular | plural | |||||||
| mənim (“my”) | orbitimdə | orbitlərimdə | ||||||
| sənin (“your”) | orbitində | orbitlərində | ||||||
| onun (“his/her/its”) | orbitində | orbitlərində | ||||||
| bizim (“our”) | orbitimizdə | orbitlərimizdə | ||||||
| sizin (“your”) | orbitinizdə | orbitlərinizdə | ||||||
| onların (“their”) | orbitində or orbitlərində | orbitlərində | ||||||
| ablative | ||||||||
| singular | plural | |||||||
| mənim (“my”) | orbitimdən | orbitlərimdən | ||||||
| sənin (“your”) | orbitindən | orbitlərindən | ||||||
| onun (“his/her/its”) | orbitindən | orbitlərindən | ||||||
| bizim (“our”) | orbitimizdən | orbitlərimizdən | ||||||
| sizin (“your”) | orbitinizdən | orbitlərinizdən | ||||||
| onların (“their”) | orbitindən or orbitlərindən | orbitlərindən | ||||||
| genitive | ||||||||
| singular | plural | |||||||
| mənim (“my”) | orbitimin | orbitlərimin | ||||||
| sənin (“your”) | orbitinin | orbitlərinin | ||||||
| onun (“his/her/its”) | orbitinin | orbitlərinin | ||||||
| bizim (“our”) | orbitimizin | orbitlərimizin | ||||||
| sizin (“your”) | orbitinizin | orbitlərinizin | ||||||
| onların (“their”) | orbitinin or orbitlərinin | orbitlərinin | ||||||
Further reading
- “orbit” in Obastan.com.
Malay
Noun
orbit (Jawi spelling اوربيت, plural orbit-orbit, informal 1st possessive orbitku, 2nd possessive orbitmu, 3rd possessive orbitnya)
- (astronomy) orbit
Further reading
- “orbit” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
Romanian
Etymology
Past participle of orbi.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [orˈbit]
Adjective
orbit m or n (feminine singular orbită, masculine plural orbiți, feminine and neuter plural orbite)
- blinded
Declension
Declension of orbit
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative | indefinite | orbit | orbită | orbiți | orbite | ||
| definite | orbitul | orbita | orbiții | orbitele | |||
| genitive/ dative | indefinite | orbit | orbite | orbiți | orbite | ||
| definite | orbitului | orbitei | orbiților | orbitelor | |||
Verb
orbit (past participle of orbi)
- past participle of orbi