Orbit

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɔː.bɪt/

Definitions

1. A curved path that one object takes as it repeatedly travels around another object in space due to gravitational pull
2. A path traced by a celestial body as it revolves around another due to the force of gravity applies to both planets and satellites
3. The circular or elliptical trajectory followed by an object in space as it continuously moves around a larger mass due to gravitational attraction

Etymology: The Latin "orbita" meant "course, track, impression, mark," and its root sense is tied to the wheel. It was built from "orbis," meaning "circle" or "disc," so the original idea was a track worn into the ground, the rut left by a cart wheel, rather than anything in the sky. Latin speakers used it for the path a wheel leaves behind, and the leap from a wagon rut to the path of a planet is the word's most striking shift. English took the word through Middle English, where "orbita" and "orbite" appeared as forms of the same term. Its meaning stayed close to the Latin for a while, referring to a track or course, before astronomers applied it to the curved paths of heavenly bodies. The circular, repeating track that makes a wheel's rut also describes a planet circling a star, which is why the same word fit both.

Synonyms: path, trajectory, course, revolution, circle

Antonyms: straight line, direct path, deviation, ascent, descent