planetary

American  

[plan-i-ter-ee] / ˈplæn ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

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

2. wandering; erratic.

3. terrestrial; global.

4. 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.

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noun

1. Machinery. a planetary gear train.

planetary British  

/ ˈplænɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. of or relating to a planet

2. mundane; terrestrial

3. wandering or erratic

4. astrology under the influence of one of the planets

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

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

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noun

1. a train of planetary gears

Other Word Forms

• nonplanetary adjective

Etymology

Origin of planetary

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

Example Sentences

Each element provides information about a different stage in planetary development.

From Science Daily

"We discovered that deep faults can heal themselves within hours," said Amanda Thomas, professor of earth and planetary sciences at UC Davis and corresponding author on the paper.

From Science Daily

With two flagships already in the works and ahead of a Uranus mission in the queue, NASA’s planetary science division is laboring under an enormous amount of budgetary stress.

From Scientific American

Cost overruns from Psyche, a mission to a metallic asteroid, and the Europa Clipper, a mission to Jupiter’s icy moon, are straining the planetary science division’s budget, which funds the Mars program.

From Science Magazine

“It’s a good place to start, and that’s all we can do,” says Dante Lauretta, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, about the new research, which he was not involved in.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• global
• terrestrial