perigee
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perigee
- /ˈpɛɹ.ɪ.d͡ʒiː/ UK
- /ˈpɛɹ.ə.d͡ʒi/ US
Where it comes from
From French périgée via Latin perigeum, perigaeum, ultimately from Ancient Greek περί (perí, “near”) + γῆ (gê, “Earth”).
noun perigees
- 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
- The point, in an orbit about any planet, that is closest to the planet: the periapsis of any satellite. 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.
- The point, in any trajectory of an object in space, where it is closest to the Earth.
Opposite: apogee
Thesaurus
noun
Opposite: apogee
Translations
Talk about this word "perigee." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/perigee. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. perigee. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/perigee "perigee." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/perigee.Cite this
@misc{perigee_2026,
title = {perigee},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/perigee},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
