Definition of "planet"

planet

/ˈplænɪt/

noun
plural planets
1. (now historical or astrology) Each of the seven major bodies which move relative to the fixed stars in the night sky—the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
  Quotations
  Be they not dreames of humane vanity, […] to make of our knowne earth a bright shining planet [translating astre]?
  1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], page 260
  The moon […] began to rise from her bed, where she had slumbered away the day, in order to sit up all night. Jones had not travelled far before he paid his compliments to that beautiful planet, and, turning to his companion, asked him if he had ever beheld so delicious an evening?
  1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 288
  Another of Boehme's followers, the Welshman Morgan Llwyd, also believed that the seven planets could be found within man.
  1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 361
2. (astronomy) A body which is massive enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium (generally resulting in being an ellipsoid) but not enough to attain nuclear fusion and, in IAU usage, which directly orbits a star (or star cluster) and dominates the region of its orbit; specifically, in the case of the Solar system, the eight major bodies of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
  Quotations
  A Discovrse concerning a New Planet. Tending to prove, That 'tis probable our Earth is one of the Planets
  1640, John Wilkins, A Discovrse concerning a New Planet. Tending to prove, That 'tis probable our Earth is one of the Planets, title
  Their decision will force a rewrite of science textbooks because the solar system is now a place with eight planets and three newly defined "dwarf planets"—a new category of object that includes Pluto.
  2006 December 22, Alok Jha, The Guardian
  2009 December 1st, Keiichi Wada, Yusuke Tsukamoto, Eiichiro Kokubo, “Planet Formation around Supermassive Black Holes in the Active Galactic Nuclei”, in The Astrophysical Journal, volume 886, number 2, article 107
3. construed with the or this: synonym of Earth.
  Quotations
  "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."
  1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company
  It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; perhaps to moralise on the oneness or fragility of the planet, or to see humanity for the small and circumscribed thing that it is; […].
  2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36

Definition of "planet"

planet

noun

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations