Dictionary

perigee en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈpɛɹ.ɪ.d͡ʒiː/ (UK)
• /ˈpɛɹ.ə.d͡ʒi/ (US)

Etymology

From French périgée via Latin perigeum, perigaeum, ultimately from Ancient Greek περί (perí, “near”) + γῆ (gê, “Earth”).

Meanings

1. The point, in an orbit about the Earth, that is closest to the Earth: the periapsis of an Earth orbiter.
   • As the moon wheels around Earth every 28 days and shows us a progressively greater and then stingier slice of its sun-lightened face, the distance between the moon and Earth changes, too. At the nearest point along its egg-shaped orbit, its perigee, the moon may be 26,000 miles closer to us than it is at its far point. 2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times:
2. (broadly) The point, in an orbit about any planet, that is closest to the planet: the periapsis of any satellite.
   • [Nereid’s] apogee—farthest point from Neptune—is five times the distance of its perigee—its closest point. 2010, Ruth Walker, Mary M. Shaffrey, et al., Exploring Space: The High Frontier, Jones & Bartlett Learning, →ISBN, page 129:
   • The resolution of the images obtained by this American probe [Messenger] will depend on its altitude [above Mercury] at any one time: about ten meters at perigee (200km altitude), but only one 1 km at apogee (15000km). 2002, Serge Brunier, Solar System Voyage, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 36:
   • Conjunctions of I and II [Io and Europa] occur when they are near perigee and apogee respectively; conjunctions of II and III [Europa and Ganymede] occur when II [Europa] is near perigee. 1995, John H. Rogers, The Giant Planet Jupiter, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 335:
3. (qualifier:possibly archaic outside astrology) The point, in any trajectory of an object in space, where it is closest to the Earth.

Forms

Antonyms

apogee

Deriveds

perigean · perigeal · perigee moon

Hyponyms

proxigee

Relateds

periastron · periapsis · perihelion

Translations (33)

tl kublayo sa Duta (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · hy երկրամերձ կետ (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · hi उपभू (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fi perigeum (closest point to the Earth) · ja 近地点 (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fa حضیض (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · ru периге́й (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fi perigeum (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · cy daearnesafiant (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fa افریجیون (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · ro perigeu (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · es perigeo (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fr périgée (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · cy perigeau (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · gl perixeo (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · bg перигей (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · cy daearnesafiannau (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · tr yerberi (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · lv perigejs (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fr périgée (closest point to the Earth) · cs perigeum (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · cy perigê (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · pl perygeum (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · ca perigeu (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fi periapsis (closest point in an orbit about a planet) · bg перигей (closest point in an orbit about a planet) · bg перигей (closest point to the Earth) · ga peirigí (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · fa پیرازم (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · ga peirigithe (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · cmn 近地點 /近地点 (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · pt perigeu (closest point in an orbit about the Earth) · he פריגיאה (closest point in an orbit about the Earth)