orbit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɔː.bɪt/ (UK); /ˈɔɹ.bɪt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin orbita and Old French orbite,^[2][3] from Latin orbita, a wheel track, beaten path, rut, course,^[2][3][4] the feminine of orbitus, circular, from orbis, a ring, wheel (see orb).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The eye socket: 1392 in Barnhart, about 1400 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The astronomical sense, the path of a planet or comet, was classical Latin, revived in Gerard of Cremona's translation of Avicenna,^[3] and was borrowed into English in 1696.^[2][6] The figurative sense, a sphere of activity or influence, is in Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1759).^[2][6] The path of an electron around the nucleus is from 1891,^[2] and of an artificial earth satellite from 1951.^[2] The state of being in orbit, into orbit, is from 1958.^[6] The verb, to travel round in an orbit, is from 1946 in Barnhart (by 1867 in Etymonline).^[2][3] Orbital is from 1541.^[2]

Timeline

• 1392 – the eye socket.^[2]
• 1696 – a planet's orbit.^[2]
• 1759 – a sphere of influence.^[2]
• 1891 – an electron's orbit.^[2]
• 1946 – to orbit (verb).^[2]
• 1951 – a satellite's orbit.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The curved path of a planet, moon or artificial satellite around another body.
2. One complete revolution of such a body.
3. A range of activity or influence: within his orbit.
4. (anatomy) The eye socket.

Verb

1. To revolve around a body in an orbit.
2. To put into orbit.

Word family

• orbital
• orbitary
• orbiter

Related words

• orb
• exorbitant

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press