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 Words From

• non·plane·tary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of planetary¹

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

Example Sentences

If your main concern is planetary health, plant-based foods are the better choice.

From Outside Online

Certain destinations like the moon and Mars have always been at the forefront of planetary scientists’ minds, especially as we’ve learned more about the history of water on both bodies.

From MIT Technology Review

Careful crater counting suggests it could be as old as 1 million years, or as youthful as 53,000 years — yesterday, in planetary terms.

From Quanta Magazine

Two hundred light years away sits a planetary system unlike any other yet discovered.

From Popular-Science

The drive for infinite economic growth is leading to a planetary ecological crisis.

From MIT Technology Review

Some of those plans for planetary defense sound like they were ripped right out of a Michael Bay movie.

From The Daily Beast

The leading neocons competed with each other to come up with the most grandiose vision of Middle East and planetary restructuring.

From The Daily Beast

Higher incomes lead to greater demand on planetary resources and more interdependence.

From The Daily Beast

“The Martian Chroniclers”Burkhard Bilger, The New Yorker A new era in planetary exploration.

From The Daily Beast

The Daily Pic: Michael Benson's planetary art hovers between sci-fi and astronomy.

From The Daily Beast

Being only halfway in control of his own planetary system was no state to be found in by the first interstellar visitors.

From Project Gutenberg

Still, it will be healthier if we push out of this planetary system before someone else pushes in.

From Project Gutenberg

In the stages of concentration the planetary nebulæ might well repeat those through which the greater solar mass proceeded.

From Project Gutenberg

In an orbit made elliptical by the planetary attraction the sun necessarily occupies one of the foci of the ellipse.

From Project Gutenberg

The conditions under which this vivifying tide is received have their origin in the planetary motion.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• global
• terrestrial