English
orbit
Orbit comes from Latin orbita ‘course, track, impression, mark’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- ‘to turn’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃erbʰ-‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorbita‘course, track, impression, mark’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500orbite
- Englishearliest quotation 2013orbit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃erbʰ-‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorbita‘course, track, impression, mark’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500orbite
- Englishearliest quotation 2013orbit
Earliest quotation: 2013, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy: “I have orbited my entire life around you, and…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- ‘to turn’
Today it means
noun An elliptical movement of an object about a celestial object or Lagrange point, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- / orbit