PLANETARY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does planetary mean? 

• PLANETARY (adjective)
  The adjective PLANETARY has 4 senses:

1. of or relating to or resembling the physical or orbital characteristics of a planet or the planets

2. of or relating to or characteristic of the planet Earth or its inhabitants

3. having no fixed course

4. involving the entire earth; not limited or provincial in scope

  Familiarity information: PLANETARY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLANETARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or resembling the physical or orbital characteristics of a planet or the planets

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

planetal; planetary

Context example:

planetary year

Pertainym:

planet ((astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction)

Derivation:

planet ((astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of the planet Earth or its inhabitants

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

planetary; terrestrial

Context example:

this terrestrial ball

Pertainym:

earth (the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Having no fixed course

Synonyms:

erratic; planetary; wandering

Context example:

a planetary vagabond

Similar:

unsettled (not settled or established)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Involving the entire earth; not limited or provincial in scope

Synonyms:

global; planetary; world; world-wide; worldwide

Context example:

of worldwide significance

Similar:

international (concerning or belonging to all or at least two or more nations)

 Context examples 

On November 24, Mars will oppose Uranus, a rather strenuous planetary clash, and may inflame tempers.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Extremely low-mass stars appear to have densely-populated planetary systems.

(Researchers find two new planets with masses similar to Earth’s near a small neighbouring star, University of Granada)

Titan is the only planetary body in our solar system other than Earth known to have stable liquid on its surface.

(The First Global Geologic Map of Titan Completed, NASA)

Titan is the only planetary body in our solar system other than Earth known to have stable liquid on its surface.

(New Models Suggest Titan Lakes Are Explosion Craters, NASA)

But because Voyager 1's last planetary encounter was Saturn, the Voyager team hadn't needed to use the TCM thrusters since November 8, 1980.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

New stars and planetary systems arise in cloud-like regions of gas and dust in between stars, making these interstellar clouds the ideal places to start the search for life’s building blocks.

(Astronomers Reveal Interstellar Thread of One of Life’s Building Blocks, ESO)

As such, planetary nebulas allow us a glimpse into the future of our own solar system.

(Hubble Views Final Stages of a Star’s Life, ESA/NASA)

That would mean Europa is a more geologically interesting planetary body than previously believed.

(Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa, NASA)

The existing understanding of planetary formation, the team explained, says small stars can produce rocky planets but cannot not pull in enough mass for larger, gaseous ones like NGTS-1b.

(Astronomers report dwarf star with unexpectedly giant planet, Wikinews)

Since K2-288Bb's radius places it in this gap, it may provide a case study of planetary evolution within this size range.

(Citizen Scientists Find New World with NASA Telescope, NASA)