orb

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English orbe,^[2][3] borrowed from Middle French orbe (“sphere in which a celestial body moves”),^[4][5][6] recorded in Old French from about 1265,^[4][7] and directly borrowed from Latin orbis (“circle, disc, ring, orbit”).^[4][5][7][2] The Latin noun is probably related to orbita (“wheel track, rut”), the source of orbit,^[7][5][8][6] and is of unknown and much-disputed origin.^[7][5] Etymonline reports that Watkins suggests a connection with the root of orchid, and de Vaan a reconstruction meaning "turning thing".^[7] Barnhart notes that the English word was possibly influenced by the earlier orbicular (1440).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In old astronomy, each of the concentric hollow spheres believed to surround the earth and carry the planets and stars: about 1449, in Reginald Pecock's Repressor, which speaks of the seven planets with her orbis and whelis.^[4][2] Barnhart glosses the first record as the orbit of a celestial body.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word described a flat circle or disc, and English extended it to three-dimensional shapes.^[7] The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins notes that in the Middle Ages an orb was a sphere or a circle;^[9] a circle, disc or ring (before 1460) and a circular formation of soldiers are among the earliest senses,^[4][5][2] and the general sense of a sphere or globe is recorded from before 1500.^[4] The astronomical spheres of the Ptolemaic system led to the poetic use for the earth (before 1550) and for the sun, moon, planets and stars (1565).^[4][7] From 1594 the word was used, chiefly in poetry and later humorously, for the eyeball or eye,^[4][10] a sense Weekley explains from that of the eyeball, perhaps influenced by that of star or planet.^[11] The golden globe topped by a cross that forms part of a monarch's regalia is recorded from 1602.^[4][9] The verb, to form into an orb, appears in 1600, in Fairfax's translation of Tasso.^[4][5][6] Orb-weaver, for spiders that spin webs of lines radiating from a centre, is recorded from 1889.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1449 – one of the concentric spheres of old astronomy.^[4][2]
• before 1460 – a circle, disc or ring (obsolete by 1821).^[4][5]
• before 1500 – a sphere or globe.^[4]
• before 1550 – the earth, the world (obsolete by 1667).^[4]
• 1565 – a celestial body: the sun, moon, a planet or star.^[4]
• 1594 – the eyeball or eye.^[4]
• 1600 – verb, to form into an orb.^[4][5][6]
• 1602 – the globe of the royal regalia.^[4]
• 1642 – verb, to move in or trace an orbit.^[4]
• 1728 – in astrology, the space around a planet over which its influence extends.^[4]
• 1889 – orb-weaver.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sphere or globe; any round object: Glass orbs hung from the ceiling.^[12][6][4]
2. An ornamental golden globe topped by a cross, carried as part of a monarch's regalia.^[12][4]
3. (poetic) A celestial body, especially the sun, the moon or the earth.^[12][4][6]
4. (poetic) The eye or eyeball.^[12][4][10]
5. In old astronomy, each of the transparent concentric spheres thought to carry the heavenly bodies around the earth.^[6][4]
6. (astrology) The space around a planet within which its influence is held to act.^[4]
7. (archaic) A circle or ring.^[12][4][13]

Verb

1. To form into a disc, circle or sphere.^[6][4][12]
2. (archaic) To encircle or surround.^[6][4][13]

Word family

• orbless
• orblike
• orby

Related words

• orbit
• orbicular

Usage notes

A rare architectural noun orb, a blank or blind window or a plain stone panel, recorded from 1500, has a separate source: it is Anglo-Norman orbe, a noun use of the adjective meaning "blind, dark", from Latin orbus (“bereft, blind”), the word related to orphan.^[4][13][6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press