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orbit

Pronunciation: /ˈɔːbɪt/

Translate orbit | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of orbit

noun

  • 1the regularly repeated elliptical course of a celestial object or spacecraft about a star or planet: the Earth’s orbit around the sun
  • one complete circuit round an orbited body: the satellite will complete one orbit every 12 hours
  • [mass noun] the state of moving in an orbit:the earth is in orbit around the sun
  • the path of an electron round an atomic nucleus.
  • 2an area of activity, interest, or influence:audiences drawn largely from outside the Party orbit
  • 3 Anatomy the cavity in the skull of a vertebrate that contains the eye; the eye socket.
  • the area around the eye of a bird or other animal.

verb (orbits, orbiting, orbited)

[with object]
  • (of a celestial object or spacecraft) move in orbit round (a star or planet):Mercury orbits the Sun
  • [no object] move in a circle:the discs spun and orbited slowly
  • put (a satellite) into orbit: France has been orbiting satellites with her own launcher

Phrases

into orbit

informal into a state of heightened activity, anger, or excitement:his goal sent the fans into orbit

Origin:

mid 16th century (in orbit (sense 3 of the noun)): from Latin orbita 'course, track' (in medieval Latin 'eye socket'), feminine of orbitus 'circular', from orbis 'ring'

Spelling rule

Do not double the final consonant when adding endings which begin with a vowel to a word which ends in a vowel plus a consonant, if the stress is not at the end of the word (as in target): (orbits, orbiting, orbited).

orbit in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of orbit in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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