Orion

American  

[uh-rahy-uhn] / əˈraɪ ən /

noun

Orionis genitive

1. Classical Mythology. a giant hunter who pursued the Pleiades, was eventually slain by Artemis, and was then placed in the sky as a constellation.

2. Astronomy. the Hunter, a constellation lying on the celestial equator between Canis Major and Taurus, containing the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel.

3. Military. a land-based U.S. Navy patrol plane with four turboprop engines, used to detect, track, and destroy enemy submarines and armed with missiles, torpedoes, mines, and depth bombs.

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Orion ¹ British  

/ əˈraɪən /

noun

1. a conspicuous constellation near Canis Major containing two first magnitude stars (Betelgeuse and Rigel) and a distant bright emission nebula (the Orion Nebula ) associated with a system of giant molecular clouds and star formation

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Orion ² British  

/ əˈraɪən /

noun

1. Greek myth a Boeotian giant famed as a great hunter, who figures in several tales

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Orion Scientific  

/ ō-rī′ən /

1. A constellation in the equatorial region of the celestial sphere, near Taurus and Gemini. Orion (the Hunter) contains the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Orion Orionis

In February, Swiss commodities giant Glencore signed a memorandum of understanding with the US-led Orion Critical Mineral Consortium to grant the latter a potential 40-percent stake in the Swiss conglomerate's mining assets in the DRC.

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

“It turns a math problem into a loyalty test,” said Daniel Crosby, chief behavioral officer at Orion Advisor Solutions.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

The astronauts will begin training immediately on Orion systems while also supporting the development and testing of the Blue Origin and SpaceX lander prototypes that will be used during the mission.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026

The Artemis III crew will be aboard Orion for two weeks, slightly longer than the nine days spent there by the Artemis II team.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

Orion pulled on his leash and tried to run out of Glory’s hand.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

The brightest of these four, Theta1 Orionis C, is hundreds of thousands of times more energetic than the sun.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023

The system, GW Orionis, is located 1,200 light-years away in the constellation of Orion and comprises three stars and the “deformed, broken-apart disc” that surrounds them, according to the researchers.

From Fox News ● Sep. 23, 2020

The star, also called Alpha Orionis, has variable brightness, meaning that its brightness rises and falls regularly.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2019

In the constellation of Orion, for example, Betelgeuse is the brightest star, so it got the first letter in the Greek alphabet—alpha—and is known as Alpha Orionis.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

Terran Space Force headquarters on Rigel IX wished to inform him that the long awaited envoy from Terra to Kappa Orionis VII not only had arrived but had departed two days behind Mayne.

From A Transmutation of Muddles by Dongen, H. R. van