the.com/planetary
a word that scaled from gods wandering the sky to gears wandering inside your gearbox
means Relating to a planet or planets — or, by extension, describing something of vast, world-spanning scale or a gear system that revolves around a central point.
from From Greek 'planetes,' meaning 'wanderer' — because to ancient sky-watchers the planets were the stars that wouldn't stay put, drifting against the fixed constellations. This passed through Late Latin 'planetarius' before reaching English in the medieval period. The mechanical sense — 'planetary gears' that orbit a central 'sun' gear — borrows the same celestial image, naming the machine after the heavens it imitates.
- root meaning
- from Greek for wanderer, the stars that moved
- gear systems
- planetary gears spin around a central sun gear
- nebula trick
- planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets
- naming error
- misnamed for resembling planets through early telescopes
- defense use
- planetary defense tracks asteroids that might hit Earth
planetary science institute — nonprofit research organization in tucson, arizona founded in 1972
planetary society — nonprofit advocacy group founded by carl sagan in 1980 with 1m+ members