orb
English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɔɹb/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɔːb/
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)b
Audio (UK) (file)
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English orbe, from Old French orbe, from Latin orbis (“circle, orb”). Compare orbit.
Noun[edit]
orb (plural orbs)
- A spherical body; a sphere, especially one of the celestial spheres; a sun, planet, or star
- c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon, […], published 1609, OCLC 78596089, [Act LOVER'S COMPLAINT, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
- In the small orb of one particular tear.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- Whether the prime orb, Incredible how swift, had thither rolled.
- One of the azure transparent spheres conceived by the ancients to be enclosed one within another, and to carry the heavenly bodies in their revolutions
- (architecture) A structural motif or finial in the shape of a sphere
- An orbit of an heavenly body
- 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Superstition”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290:
- The schoolmen were like astronomers, which did feign eccentrics, and epicycles, and such engines of orbs.
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:
- You seem to me as Dian in her orb.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- In orbs Of circuit inexpressible they stood, Orb within orb.
- (rare) The time period of an orbit
- 1667, Milton, John, Paradise Lost, Book V:
- Know none before us, self-begot, self-rais'd / By our own quick'ning power, when fatal course / Had circl'd his full Orbe, the birth mature / Of this our native Heav'n, Ethereal Sons.
- (poetic) The eye, seen as a luminous and spherical entity
- 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- A drop serene hath quenched their orbs.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 21345056, page 260:
- Painfully, he forced his hot eyelids to unclose, and his distended orbs sought for some object whereon to fix; they met the patch of grass, yet red with the blood of Walter Maynard.
- (poetic) Any revolving circular body, such as a wheel
- 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- The orbs Of his fierce chariot rolled.
- (rare) A sphere of action.
- 1815, William Wordsworth, "Essay, Supplementary to the Preface"
- By what fatality the orb of my genius […] acts upon these men like the moon upon a certain description of patients, it would be irksome to inquire
- c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon, […], published 1609, OCLC 78596089, [Act 1, scene 2]:
- But in our orbs we'll live so round and safe.
- 1815, William Wordsworth, "Essay, Supplementary to the Preface"
- A globus cruciger; a ceremonial sphere used to represent royal or imperial power
- A translucent sphere appearing in flash photography (Orb (optics))
- (military) A body of soldiers drawn up in a circle, as for defence, especially infantry to repel cavalry.
Synonyms[edit]
- (spherical body): ball, globe, sphere
- (circle): circle, orbit
- (a period of time): See Thesaurus:year
- (an eye): See Thesaurus:eye
- (revolving circular body): roller, wheel
- (sphere of action): area, domain, field, province
- (monarch's ceremonial sphere): globe, globus cruciger, mound, orb
- (military formation): globe
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
orb (third-person singular simple present orbs, present participle orbing, simple past and past participle orbed)
- (poetic, transitive) To form into an orb or circle.
- 1842, James Russell Lowell, sonnet
- a full-orbed sun
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- Let each
His adamantine coat gird well , and each
Fit well his helm , gripe fast his orbed shield
- 1842, James Russell Lowell, sonnet
- (poetic, intransitive) To become round like an orb.
- (poetic, transitive) To encircle; to surround; to enclose.
- 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses
- The wheels were orbed with gold.
- 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses
Etymology 2[edit]
From Old French orb (“blind”), from Latin orbus (“destitute”).
Noun[edit]
orb (plural orbs)
- (architecture) A blank window or panel.
- 1845, Robert Willis, The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral
- small blank windows or panels, for in later times such panels were called orbs, blind windows
- 1845, Robert Willis, The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral
References[edit]
- orb in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams[edit]
Aromanian[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin orbus. Compare Romanian orb.
Adjective[edit]
orb m (feminine singular orbe, masculine plural orghi, feminine plural orbi)
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Inherited from Old Catalan orb (also spelled horp), from an ellipsis of Latin orbus (ab oculīs) (literally “deprived of eyes”), the first element of which derives from Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos (“orphan”). Compare Occitan òrb, Italian orbo, Romanian orb, as well as French aveugle, which reflects the ab oculīs part of the idiom.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
orb (feminine orba, masculine plural orbs, feminine plural orbes)
Synonyms[edit]
Noun[edit]
orb m (uncountable)
References[edit]
- “orb” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “orb”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
- “orb” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “orb” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Estonian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Finnish orpo, from Proto-Finno-Ugric *orpa, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hárbʰas. Cognate with Hungarian árva.
Noun[edit]
orb (genitive orvu, partitive orbu)
Declension[edit]
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | orb | orvud |
genitive | orvu | orbude |
partitive | orbu | orbe / orbusid |
illative | orbu / orvusse | orbudesse / orvesse |
inessive | orvus | orbudes / orves |
elative | orvust | orbudest / orvest |
allative | orvule | orbudele / orvele |
adessive | orvul | orbudel / orvel |
ablative | orvult | orbudelt / orvelt |
translative | orvuks | orbudeks / orveks |
terminative | orvuni | orbudeni |
essive | orvuna | orbudena |
abessive | orvuta | orbudeta |
comitative | orvuga | orbudega |
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin orbus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos (“orphan”). Compare Italian orbo.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
orb m or n (feminine singular oarbă, masculine plural orbi, feminine and neuter plural oarbe)
Declension[edit]
Noun[edit]
orb m (plural orbi, feminine equivalent oarbă)
Declension[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)b
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)b/1 syllable
- English terms with audio links
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Architectural elements
- English terms with rare senses
- English poetic terms
- en:Military
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Architecture
- en:Monarchy
- Aromanian terms inherited from Latin
- Aromanian terms derived from Latin
- Aromanian lemmas
- Aromanian adjectives
- Catalan terms inherited from Old Catalan
- Catalan terms derived from Old Catalan
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Catalan terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Catalan 1-syllable words
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan uncountable nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- Estonian terms borrowed from Finnish
- Estonian terms derived from Finnish
- Estonian terms derived from Proto-Finno-Ugric
- Estonian terms derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian
- Estonian lemmas
- Estonian nouns
- Estonian riik-type nominals
- Romanian terms inherited from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Romanian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Romanian terms with audio links
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian masculine nouns