planetary

[plan-i-ter-ee]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a planet or the planets.

2. wandering; erratic.

3. terrestrial; global.

4. Machinery.,  noting or pertaining to an epicyclic gear train in which a sun gear is linked to one or more planet gears also engaging with an encircling ring gear.

noun

1. Machinery.,  a planetary gear train.

planetary

/ ˈplænɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. of or relating to a planet

2. mundane; terrestrial

3. wandering or erratic

4. astrology under the influence of one of the planets

5. (of a gear, esp an epicyclic gear) having an axis that rotates around that of another gear

6. (of an electron) having an orbit around the nucleus of an atom

noun

1. a train of planetary gears

Other Word Forms

• nonplanetary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of planetary¹

From the Latin word planētārius, dating back to 1585–95. See planet, -ary

Example Sentences

The planetary scientist’s house survived, but unseen contaminants could be lurking in the soil.

From Los Angeles Times

At first, there was a sense of awe surrounding the public display of this extraordinary Martian find – less than 400 of the 50,000 meteorites discovered have been shown to come from our planetary neighbour.

From BBC

“Just because you find something in a comet doesn’t mean that it can’t be a biosignature on a planetary atmosphere, because those are two very different environments.”

From Salon

But for Qingzu Yin, a professor in the Department of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Davis, the transition is long overdue.

From Los Angeles Times

Prof Dougherty is one of the leading planetary scientists in her field.

From BBC

Related Words

• global 
• terrestrial