Definition of orbit

The word "orbit" originates from the Latin word "orbita," meaning "circle" or "round." The term was first used in the scientific context in the 17th century by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler to describe the path that planets or moons follow around a larger celestial body, such as a star or another planet. However, the word "orbit" wasn't adopted into the English language until much later, in the early 19th century. Prior to that, phrases like "course of fall" or "revolution" were used to describe the movement of celestial bodies. Today, the word "orbit" is widely used in science, engineering, and popular culture to describe the path or trajectory of objects, such as spacecraft, satellites, asteroids, and planets, that move around or near a larger gravitational body. The concept of orbit is also relevant in various fields beyond astronomy, such as in mathematics and physics where it's used to describe the movement of subatomic particles or other objects in motion.