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Synonyms

orbital

American  
[awr-bi-tl] / ˈɔr bɪ tl /

adjective

  1. of or relating to an orbit.

noun

  1. Physics, Chemistry.

    1. a wave function describing the state of a single electron in an atom atomic orbital or in a molecule molecular orbital.

    2. the electron in that state.

orbital British  
/ ˈɔːbɪtəl /

adjective

  1. of or denoting an orbit

  2. (of a motorway or major road circuit) circling a large city

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a region surrounding an atomic nucleus in which the probability distribution of the electrons is given by a wave function

  2. an orbital road

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • interorbital adjective
  • interorbitally adverb
  • orbitally adverb
  • preorbital adjective
  • superorbital adjective
  • transorbital adjective
  • unorbital adjective
  • unorbitally adverb

Etymology

Origin of orbital

1535–45; < New Latin, Medieval Latin orbitālis; orbit, -al 1

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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.

In 2025, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched 165 times, accounting for over half of global orbital launches.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Analysts say SpaceX’s orbital data center and chip-making plans could easily cost trillions of dollars to pull off.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

Extremely risky orbital reconstruction surgery was a possibility, along with a donor nerve, or a full donor eye.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Aetherflux, a space startup developing orbital data centers, is raising a new funding round at a $2 billion valuation, according to people familiar with the situation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

The actual speed can be determined at any point in the earth's orbit by using the distance to the sun and the specific orbital energy.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

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.