planetary

[ plan-i-ter-ee ]

/ ˈplæn ɪˌtɛr i /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR planetary ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling a planet or the planets.

wandering; erratic.

terrestrial; global.

Machinery. noting or pertaining to an epicyclic gear train in which a sun gear is linked to one or more planet gears also engaging with an encircling ring gear.

noun

Machinery. a planetary gear train.

Nearby words

planet x, planet zog, planet-struck, planetarian, planetarium, planetary, planetary nebula, planetary precession, planetesimal, planetesimal hypothesis, planetoid

Origin of planetary

From the Latin word planētārius, dating back to 1585–95. See planet, -ary

Related forms

non·plan·e·tar·y, adjective

Can be confused

planetary plenary plentiful plenitude

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for planetary

Some of those plans for planetary defense sound like they were ripped right out of a Michael Bay movie.
U.S.—Russia Tensions Nuke Plans For Real-Life ‘Armageddon’ Asteroid Defense|Asawin Suebsaeng|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The leading neocons competed with each other to come up with the most grandiose vision of Middle East and planetary restructuring.
Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick On How Obama Should Handle the Crisis In Syria|Oliver Stone, Peter Kuznick|October 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Higher incomes lead to greater demand on planetary resources and more interdependence.
Big Idea: The Time for Divided Nations Is Over|Ian Goldin|August 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“The Martian Chroniclers”Burkhard Bilger, The New Yorker A new era in planetary exploration.
The Week’s Best Longreads for April 20, 2013|David Sessions|April 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The Daily Pic: Michael Benson's planetary art hovers between sci-fi and astronomy.
Isaac Asimov or Carl Sagan?|Blake Gopnik|February 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Thus the sun is at once the great regulator of the planetary motions, and the fountain of light and heat.
Letters on Astronomy|Denison Olmsted
Unfortunately, we were not blessed with a planetary situation as agreeable as Earth's.
Get Out of Our Skies!|E. K. Jarvis
Thus, active volcanism is taking place, at present, on at least one planetary body in addition to our Earth.
Volcanoes|Robert I. Tilling
But there are hundreds of planetary bodies now known that were then not known.
The Book of the Damned|Charles Fort
Dr. Winslow accounts for the theory of planetary influence partly by the action of the moon in producing the tides.
Moon Lore|Timothy Harley

British Dictionary definitions for planetary

planetary

/ (ˈplænɪtərɪ, -trɪ) /

adjective

of or relating to a planet

mundane; terrestrial

wandering or erratic

astrology under the influence of one of the planets

(of a gear, esp an epicyclic gear) having an axis that rotates around that of another gear

(of an electron) having an orbit around the nucleus of an atom

noun plural -taries

a train of planetary gears

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

Science definitions for planetary

planet

[ plăn′ĭt ]

In the traditional model of solar systems, a celestial body larger than an asteroid or comet, illuminated by light from a star, such as the Sun, around which it revolves.

A celestial body that orbits the Sun, has sufficient mass to assume nearly a round shape, clears out dust and debris from the neighborhood around its orbit, and is not a satellite of another planet. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto was considered to be a planet until its reclassification in 2006 as a dwarf planet. A planetlike body with more than about ten times the mass of Jupiter would be considered a brown dwarf rather than a planet. See also extrasolar planet inner planet outer planet.

Related forms

planetary adjective