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

IceCube has been fully operational since 2011 and has detected high-energy neutrinos from a distant galaxy in the direction of the constellation Orion, as well as from our own Milky Way.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Noth recently revealed that his son, Orion, whom he shares with wife, Tara Wilson, is heading off to college.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

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

But it was said that even there Orion continued his pursuit, always unsuccessful, yet persistent.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

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

Then turning south it sweeps round a little north of κ Orionis; then over 29 Orionis, and ends a little to the west of η Orionis.

From Astronomical Curiosities Facts and Fallacies by J. Ellard Gore

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