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.

---

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

---

Orion ² British  

/ əˈraɪən /

noun

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

---

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.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Orion Orionis

Artemis III astronauts will remain inside Orion and will not enter the Starship prototype.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

Up to two Artemis III astronauts wearing orange Orion crew survival system suits will open the hatch and enter the Blue Origin test lander.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

They will also examine the movement and behavior of each combined Orion and lander configuration in space.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

During each docking and undocking sequence, the lander prototype will act as the target while Orion serves as the chaser spacecraft.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

Orion was so excited, Glory let him off his leash.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Theta1 Orionis C shines so fiercely that it alone is responsible for most of the nebula’s glow.

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

RIGEL. β Orionis, one of the bright stars in Orion.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher