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perihelion.

The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, etc., where it is nearest to the Sun.

10 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˌpɛɹ.ɪˈhiː.lɪ.ən/Received-Pronunciation/ˌpɛɹ.əˈhiː.li.ən/General-American/ˌpɛɹ.əˈhil.jən/General-American
  1. The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, etc., where it is nearest to the Sun.

  2. The highest point or state; the peak, zenith.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

PIE word *sóh₂wl̥ From perihelium (“perihelion”) (obsolete) + -ion (suffix used for other names of apsides). Perihelium is borrowed from Late Latin perihelium, from Ancient Greek περι- (peri-, “around; surrounding”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + ἥλιος (hḗlios, “sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”)), which was modelled after perigeum (“point in an orbit about the Earth that is closest to the Earth, perigee”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.