orbit

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See also: Orbit

English

Diagram of a planet's orbit, illustrating Kepler's second law.
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Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English orbite, orbita, from Latin orbita (course, track, impression, mark).

Pronunciation

Noun

orbit (countable and uncountable, plural orbits)

  1. The curved path of one object around a point or another body.
    1. (astronomy) An elliptical movement of an object about a celestial object 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
      1. One complete circuit round an orbited body.
        The Moon's orbit around the Earth takes nearly one month to complete.
    2. (uncountable) The state of moving in an orbit.
    3. (physics) The path of an electron around an atomic nucleus.
    4. (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.
  2. (figurative) 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.
    • 2024 November 22, Hugo Lowell, “Trump names Pam Bondi as attorney general pick after Gaetz steps aside”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
      Bondi has been inside Trump’s orbit for some time, and is widely seen to have demonstrated her loyalty to Trump during his first term, when she helped with his impeachment defense, and more recently when she repeatedly attended Trump’s criminal trial in New York.
  3. (anatomy) The bony cavity in the skull of a vertebrate containing the eyeball.
    Synonyms: eye socket, cranial orbit
    1. (zoology) The area around the eye of a bird or other animal.
  4. (mathematics) A collection of points related by the evolution function of a dynamical system.
  5. (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.
  6. (poker, Texas hold 'em) The number of hands such that each player at the table has posted the big blind once.
    All right, I'll play one more orbit but then I'm leaving!
  7. (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, Andrew McGarry, “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"(Can we verify(+) this sense?) 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

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

orbit (third-person singular simple present orbits, present participle orbiting, simple past and past participle orbited)

  1. (astronomy) To circle or revolve around another object or position.
    The Earth orbits the Sun.
    The satellite orbits the Lagrange point.
    1. To place an object (e.g. a satellite) into an orbit around a planet.
      A rocket was used to orbit the satellite.
      Synonym: launch
  2. 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
  3. To move in a circle.
  4. (transitive) To center (around).
  5. (transitive, dating) To continue to follow and/or engage with someone via social media after breaking up with them.

Antonyms

Translations

See also

References

Anagrams

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin orbita.

Pronunciation

Noun

orbit (definite accusative orbiti, plural orbitlər)

  1. (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.

Finnish

Noun

orbit

  1. nominative plural of orbi

Malay

Noun

orbit (Jawi spelling اوربيت, plural orbit-orbit, informal 1st possessive orbitku, 2nd possessive orbitmu, 3rd possessive orbitnya)

  1. (astronomy) orbit

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Past participle of orbi.

Pronunciation

Adjective

orbit m or n (feminine singular orbită, masculine plural orbiți, feminine and neuter plural orbite)

  1. blinded

Declension

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)

  1. past participle of orbi