Ecliptical

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Concerning the designated route or plane of celestial objects as they move across the sky
2. Relating to the specific pathway that celestial bodies follow in their orbits as they traverse the heavens
3. Pertaining to the defined path of heavenly bodies as they appear to travel across the sky

Etymology: "Ecliptical" is simply "ecliptic" with the adjective ending "-al" added, and the root "ecliptic" comes from Greek "ekleiptikos," meaning "relating to eclipses." The reason for that link is that the ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun across the sky over the year, and eclipses of the Sun and Moon can only occur near it, because the Moon's orbit crosses that path at two points. Ancient astronomers therefore treated the line as the stage on which eclipses played out. The word's meaning has moved from eclipses to the planets. Among the planets, the Moon and the other bodies of the solar system keep close to this same band of sky, so "ecliptical" came to describe anything relating to their paths. Its use in English is largely confined to astronomical writing, where it sits alongside its base form.

Synonyms: elliptical, orbital, curvilinear