apogee
[ap-uh-jee]
- Astronomy. the point in the orbit of a heavenly body, especially the moon, or of a man-made satellite at which it is farthest from the earth.Compare perigee.
- the highest or most distant point; climax.
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Origin of apogee
1585–95; alteration (after French apogée) of earlier apogaeum < Latin < Greek apógaion (diástema) off-earth (distance), neuter of apógaios (adj.), equivalent to apo- apo- + gáïos of the earth, derivative of gaîa, variant of gê the earth
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for apogee
Contemporary Examples
We missed the apogee of the hippie revolution becoming something more serious.
Winehouse laid down the track in her attic studio in 2009, at the apogee of her hard-partying ways.
It reaches its apogee in Bodrum, since nowhere in Turkey is the produce and seafood fresher or more abundant.
The apogee of all this dressing came on December 23, 1908, when he formed The Mark Twain Corporation.
Historical Examples
This was the climax of the prelate's favour, the apogee of his power.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
The apogee of the sun is synonymous with the aphelion of the earth.
The Sailor's Word-BookWilliam Henry Smyth
An irregularity in the motion of a planet by which it deviates from the aphelion or apogee.
The Sailor's Word-BookWilliam Henry Smyth
The second measures the distance of the sun from its apogee.
The acquisition of this soul marks the apogee of the greatness of a people.
apogee
- the point in its orbit around the earth when the moon or an artificial satellite is at its greatest distance from the earthCompare perigee
- the highest point
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Word Origin
C17: from New Latin apogaeum (influenced by French apogée), from Greek apogaion, from apogaios away from the earth, from apo- + gaia earth
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for apogee
n.
"point at which the moon is farthest from the earth," 1590s, from French apogée, from Latin apogaeum, from Greek apogaion, neuter adjective, "away from the earth," a term from Ptolemaic astronomy, from apo "off, away" (see apo-) + gaia/ge "earth" (see Gaia). Adjective forms are apogeal, apogean.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
apogee
[ăp′ə-jē]
- The point farthest from Earth's center in the orbit of the Moon or an artificial satellite.
- The point in an orbit that is most distant from the body being orbited. Compare aphelion perigee.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
apogee
[(ap-uh-jee)]
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.