oort cloud

Oort cloud

O o

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [awrt, ohrt]
- /ɔrt, oʊrt/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [awrt, ohrt]
- /ɔrt, oʊrt/

Definitions of oort cloud words

noun oort cloud a region of the solar system far beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto in which billions of comets move in nearly circular orbits unless one is pulled into a highly eccentric elliptical orbit by a passing star. Compare Kuiper belt. 1
noun oort cloud a mass of comets orbiting the sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto, whose existence was first proposed by Jan Hendrick Oort (1900–92) in 1950 0
noun oort cloud a moving mass of icy cosmic debris thought to exist in the vast region beyond Pluto and to be the source of the comets that orbit the sun 0

See all 3 definitions of oort cloud

Information block about the term

Origin of oort cloud

First appearance:

before 1975

One of the 1% newest English words

1975-80; after Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort (1900-1992), who proposed its existence

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Oort cloud

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Oort cloud

oort cloud popularity

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 29% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.

According to our data about 65% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.