See Also: Planet(medicine)
planet(dictionary)
planet(encyclopedia)
Planet X(encyclopedia)
planet(2)(dictionary)
planet(1)(dictionary)
Planet Smoothie(tourism)
PLANET Gas Limited(finance)
Planet of the Apes(dictionary)
Daily Planet, The(dictionary)

planet(1) (iou)



planet noun1. ME.
[Old & mod. French planete from late Latin planeta, planetes (only in pl. planetae for older Latin stellae errantes wandering stars) from Greek planetes wanderer, from planan wander rel. to plazein cause to wander.]
Each of the seven major celestial bodies which move independently of the fixed stars (in order of supposed distance from the earth in the Ptolemaic system, the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). obsolete exc. Hist., Astrology, and as in sense 4 below. ME.
Astrology. The supposed influence or quality of a moving celestial body (including the moon and sun) in affecting people and events. Later gen., an occult controlling fateful power. ME.
L. MacNeice There is more than one way of..being 'born under' any planet.
fig. A source of influence; a prominent or influential person. LME.
J. Adams What the conjunctions and oppositions of two such political planets may produce, I know not.
Astronomy. Any of various rocky or gaseous bodies that revolve in elliptical orbits around the sun and are visible by its reflected light; esp. each of the nine major planets (see below); any of various smaller bodies that revolve around these; a similar body revolving around another star. Also, the earth (cf. Planet Earth below). M17.
Independent The 'geological' features it shows on Venus should tell us how the planet has evolved. New York Review of Books The whole planet thinks of you as a complete bastard.
In full planet-wheel. A wheel which revolves around a central wheel with a fixed axis in an epicyclic or planetary gear. E20.
Phrases: joy of a planet: see JOY noun. major planet each of the larger bodies which orbit the sun (in order of increasing distance from the sun, Mercury, Venus, the earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). minor planet = ASTEROID noun 1. primary planet a planet which orbits the sun. red planet: see RED adjective. secondary planet a planet which orbits another planet, a satellite, a moon.
Comb.: planet cage a cylindrical form of planet carrier; planet carrier a frame on which planet-wheels are mounted in a planetary gear; Planet Earth (a name for) the earth, esp. as the planet on which humans live, as distinct from outer space; planetfall [after landfall] a landing or arrival on a planet after a journey through space; planet-gear (a) planetary or epicyclic gear; a planet-wheel; planet pinion a planet-wheel, esp. one smaller than the sun wheel; planet-stricken, planet-struck adjectives (arch.) afflicted by the supposed malign influence of an adverse planet; stricken with paralysis or another sudden physical disorder; stricken with sudden fear or amazement; planet-wheel: see sense 5 above; planet-wide adjective occurring all over a planet.
planetal adjective (rare) of or belonging to the planets, planetary E17.