orbital
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
of or denoting an orbit
-
(of a motorway or major road circuit) circling a large city
noun
-
a region surrounding an atomic nucleus in which the probability distribution of the electrons is given by a wave function
-
an orbital road
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of orbital
1535–45; < New Latin, Medieval Latin orbitālis; see orbit, -al 1
Compare meaning
How does orbital compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Something that's orbital has something to do with an orbit. A satellite's orbital path is the exact route it takes as it travels around the Earth. When planets, moons, or spacecraft move around other objects in an orbit — a curved, regular path — you can describe this movement as orbital. An orbital period is the length of time it takes a craft or body to make a complete pass around the object it orbits. Another way to use this adjective is to mean "relating to an eye socket," which is actually its earliest meaning. The Latin root is orbita, "wheel track, beaten path, course, or orbit."
Vocabulary lists containing orbital
Chemistry - High School
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Chemistry - Middle School
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Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) Tribute List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Adenot completed three spacewalks while also becoming the first French woman to venture outside the orbital outpost.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
If the older silica-poor disks and their seemingly random periods of changing infrared brightness are caused by orbital instability, the pattern would be broadly compatible with the Late Heavy Bombardment hypothesis for our solar system.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
At present, building and launching the orbital equivalent of a 1-gigawatt data center on Earth would cost around $30 billion, Elbert estimates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Four new crew members for the International Space Station blasted off Thursday for the orbital laboratory where they will stay for approximately six months.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
As soon as they try, their slightly different orbital speeds pull them apart.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
