orbit

American  

[awr-bit] / ˈɔr bɪt /

noun

• orbits
  plural

1. the curved path, usually elliptical, taken by a planet, satellite, spaceship, etc., around a celestial body, as the sun.

2. the usual course of one's life or range of one's activities.

3. the sphere of power or influence, as of a nation or person.

   a small nation in the Russian orbit.

4. Physics. (in theBohr model ) the path traced by an electron revolving around the nucleus of an atom.

5. an orb or sphere.

6. Anatomy.

   1. the bony cavity of the skull that contains the eye; eye socket.

   2. the eye.

7. Zoology. the part surrounding the eye of a bird or insect.

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verb (used with object)

• orbits,
  present (3rd person singular)
• orbited,
  past participle,  past
• orbiting
  present participle

1. to move or travel around in an orbital or elliptical path.

   The earth orbits the sun once every 365.25 days.

2. to send into orbit, as a satellite.

verb (used without object)

• orbits,
  present (3rd person singular)
• orbited,
  past participle,  past
• orbiting
  present participle

1. to go or travel in an orbit.

orbit British  

/ ˈɔːbɪt /

noun

1. astronomy the curved path, usually elliptical, followed by a planet, satellite, comet, etc, in its motion around another celestial body under the influence of gravitation

2. a range or field of action or influence; sphere

   he is out of my orbit

3. Nontechnical name: eye socket.  anatomy the bony cavity containing the eyeball

4. zoology

   1. the skin surrounding the eye of a bird

   2. the hollow in which lies the eye or eyestalk of an insect or other arthropod

5. physics the path of an electron in its motion around the nucleus of an atom

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verb

1. to move around (a body) in a curved path, usually circular or elliptical

2. (tr) to send (a satellite, spacecraft, etc) into orbit

3. (intr) to move in or as if in an orbit

orbit Scientific  

/ ôr′bĭt /

1. The path followed by a celestial body or artificial satellite as it revolves around another body due to the force of gravity. Orbits are nearly elliptical or circular in shape and are very closely approximated by Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

2. One complete revolution of such a body.

3. See Note at solar system

4. A stable quantum state of an electron (or other particle) in motion around an atomic nucleus.

5. See more at orbital

6. Either of two bony hollows in the skull containing the eye and its associated structures.

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1. To move in an orbit around another body.

2. To put into an orbit, as a satellite is put into orbit around the Earth.

orbit Cultural  

1. In astronomy, the path followed by an object revolving around another object, under the influence of gravitation (see satellite). In physics, the path followed by an electron within an atom. The planets follow elliptical orbits around the sun (see ellipse).

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orbit Idioms  

1. see in orbit.

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Discover More

Informally, something is “in orbit” when its actions are controlled by an external agency or force: “The countries of eastern Europe were once in the orbit of the Soviet Union.”

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonorbiting
  adjective
• orbitary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• orbits
  plural

Participles

• orbiting
  present
• orbited
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• orbit
  simple
• orbits
  simple
• have orbited
  perfect
• has orbited
  perfect
• am orbiting
  progressive
• are orbiting
  progressive
• is orbiting
  progressive
• have been orbiting
  perfect progressive
• has been orbiting
  perfect progressive

Past

• orbited
  simple
• had orbited
  perfect
• was orbiting
  progressive
• were orbiting
  progressive
• had been orbiting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will orbit
  simple
• will have orbited
  perfect
• will be orbiting
  progressive
• will have been orbiting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of orbit

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin orbita wheel track, course, circuit

Explanation

To orbit is to follow a circular or elliptical path around a central body. Usually a planet, moon or satellite is described as orbiting, but a child who has too much sugar can sometimes orbit around his parents in an annoying fashion. Orbit comes from the Latin orbita, “course,” or “track.” The verb orbit is the act of revolving around another object, usually on a circular or elliptical course. Many planets, moons, stars, meteors spacecraft and other objects in outer space orbit around each other. Electrons also orbit around the nucleus of an atom. The noun orbit is the path the object in orbit takes: "The Earth’s orbit around the Sun takes one year to complete."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

orbit orbits orbited orbiting

The spacecraft, revealed to media last Thursday, will stay in Mars' orbit for around three years and will attempt to land on Phobos.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Oh, and while the Oregon senator cites land and water issues as his driving concerns, he also wants his tax applied to data centers built in orbit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

If the Moon was slightly smaller or its orbit was a little further away from the Earth then we would never see a total eclipse.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Because Elytra can deploy payloads both in lunar orbit and on the surface, it gives future Moon Base missions greater flexibility for science and logistics.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

“Anywhere between eight days and a halfmonth, depending on where it is in its solar orbit relative to Gethen. It might be on the other side of the sun.”

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

By examining atmospheric drag through the gradual decay of satellite orbits, the team estimated thermospheric density around approximately 1,200 satellites flying at an altitude of 482 kilometers.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Because the satellites travel in carefully coordinated orbits, they can separate magnetic signals coming from the core from signals produced by the crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

For instance, G 203-47's red dwarf rotates once every 100 or so days, but orbits its white dwarf every 14.9 days, meaning they are not tidally synced.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

The company projects Starship will begin launching to lower-Earth orbits in the second half of this year, but it isn’t clear when the company could get its rockets to the orbits required by StormWall.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

With five Euclidean solids to play with, and one sphere inside the innermost solid as well as one outside the outermost solid, this defined six spheres—one for each of the orbits of the planets.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Yet it was still an undoubted factor considering the team had orbited around Isak, who scored 27 goals in the previous season.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

Back in 1968, Apollo 8 orbited the Moon 10 times without landing.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

Instead, huge amounts of rock and dust were passing in front of the star as they orbited the system, partially blocking the light traveling toward Earth.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 11, 2026

Among the many faulty narratives that orbited out of the government, one asked us to consider the mental anguish suffered by these dispatched officers.

From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2026

When he looked at the planet Jupiter, Galileo found that it was accompanied by several small satellites or moons that orbited around it.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Astronaut Wally Schirra boarded the vessel wearing his personal Omega Speedmaster Professional, orbiting Earth six times over the course of nine hours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

While smaller space rocks frequently burn up in Earth's atmosphere, large orbiting rocks like asteroids are rarer.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Indeed, it’s difficult to estimate how space junk is currently orbiting our planet.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Previous research has identified rocky planets orbiting within the habitable zones of their stars.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

It is really a triple system, two stars revolving around each other, and a third, Proxima Centauri, orbiting the pair at a discreet distance.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• path
• pattern
• rotation
• trajectory