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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Orbit


ORB'IT, noun [Latin orbita, a trace or track, from orbis, a wheel.]

1. In astronomy, the path of a planet or comet; the curve line which a planet describes in its periodical revolution round its central body; as the orbit of Jupiter or Mercury. The orbit of the earth is nearly one hundred and ninety millions of miles in diameter. The orbit of the moon is 480, 000 miles in diameter. The orbits of the planets are elliptical.

2. A small orb. [Not proper.]

3. In anatomy, the cavity in which the eye is situated.