Dictionary

aphelion en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˈfiː.lɪ.ən/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /æpˈhi.li.ən/ (General-American)
• /æpˈhil.jən/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /æpˈhiː.lɪ.ən/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /əˈfi.li.ən/ (General-American)
• /əˈfil.jən/ (General-American)

Etymology

From New Latin aphēlium (whence English aphelium, now displaced) + -ion (used in the names of other apsides). Aphelium was formed from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, prefix meaning ‘away, from, off’) + ἥλῐος (hḗlĭos, “the sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“the sun”)), modelled after New Latin apogaeum (“apogee”). The plural form aphelia is from aphelion + -a (plural form of the suffix -on).

Meanings

1. (also, figuratively) The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, or other astronomical object, where it is farthest from the Sun.
   • [I]t follows from the theory of gravity, that the aphelia of Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars, slightly progress. 1837, William Whewell, “The Inductive Epoch of Newton—Discovery of the Universal Gravitation of Matter, according to the Law of the Inverse Square of the Distance”, in History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Times. […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: J. and J. J. Deighton, →OCLC, book VII (History of Physical Astronomy), page 170:

Forms

Antonyms

perihelion

Hypernyms

apsis · apoapsis · apside · apogee

Relateds

parhelion · apoapsis

Translations (35)

ga apaihéilean (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · es afelio (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · fi apheli (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · nl aphelium (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · eo afelio (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · it afelio (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · sh афел (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · pt afélia (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · sk afélium (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · ko 원일점 (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · tl higlayo sa Adlaw (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · ca afeli (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · eu afelio (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · cmn 遠日點 /远日点 (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · pl aphelium (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · is sólfirð (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · ar أَوْج (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · be афе́лій (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · el αφήλιο (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · ga aiféilean (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · fr aphélie (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · pt afélio (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · gl afelio (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · vi điểm viễn nhật (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · sh afel (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · ga cianphointe ó ghrian (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · mk а́фел (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · ru афе́лий (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · uk афе́лій (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · cs afélium (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · fa اوج خورشیدی (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · sv aphelium (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · de Aphel (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · cy affelion (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun) · ja 遠日点 (point in the elliptical orbit of a planet where it is farthest from the Sun)