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

The Orionids appear to radiate from the constellation Orion, which gives the shower its name.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

“I think it’s a question of how much time can the Fed buy itself. Can they credibly not raise rates in September through the year-end?” said Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

At the VIP barrier of the Orion Stage, a set of fans planted their flag early on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

The lunar lander will be placed in orbit first, where it will wait for the astronauts arriving aboard Orion after launching on SLS.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

Orion, a small Pomeranian, sat up and made a whining sound.

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

Captain Sawtelle," he said then, "I thought that you and I had settled in private the question or who is in command of Project Theta Orionis at destination.

From Masters of Space by Robert Lee Berry