orb
pronunciation
How to pronounce orb in British English:
UK [ɔ:b]
How to pronounce orb in American English:
US [ɔrb]
-
- Noun:
- the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye
- an object with a spherical shape
Word Origin
- orb (n.)
- mid-15c., "sphere, globe, something spherical or circular," from Old French orbe "orb, globe" (13c.) and directly from Latin orbem (nominative orbis) "circle, disk, ring, hoop, orbit," probably related to orbita "wheel track, rut," of unknown origin. Watkins suggests a connection with the root of orchid. A three-dimensional extension of a word originally describing two-dimensional shapes. Astronomical sense is in reference to the hollow spheres that carried the planets and stars in the Ptolemaic system. As a verb from c. 1600. Orb weaver spider is first recorded 1889.
Example
- 1. They make the largest orb webs , which often exceed three feet ( 1 metre ) in diameter .
- 2. The black , death star-like , orb is briefly engulfed in light from the sun , then flies off into space .
- 3. Pitch-black as it was , it was also brimming over with light : a light that seemed to come from a brilliant orb that I now sensed near me .
- 4. It was as if I were being born into a larger world , and the universe itself was like a giant cosmic womb , and the orb ( which I sensed was somehow connected with , or even identical to , the woman on the butterfly wing ) was guiding me through it .
- 5. At its central point , citizens can ascend to a large glass orb and place their hands in a golden cast of the president 's handprint , which they believe can grant wishes .