aphelion

noun
/əˈfiː.lɪ.ən/UK/əˈfi.li.ən/US

Etymology

From New Latin aphēlium (whence English aphelium, now displaced) + -ion (used in the names of other apsides). Aphelium was formed from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, prefix meaning ‘away, from, off’) + ἥλῐος (hḗlĭos, “the sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“the sun”)), modelled after New Latin apogaeum (“apogee”). The plural form aphelia is from aphelion + -a (plural form of the suffix -on).

  1. derived from *sóh₂wl̥ — “the sun
  2. derived from ἀπο-
  3. derived from aphēlium

Definitions

  1. The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, or other astronomical object, where…

    The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, or other astronomical object, where it is farthest from the Sun.

    • [I]t follows from the theory of gravity, that the aphelia of Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars, slightly progress.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for aphelion. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA