Earth & SkyGreek → English
Perigee
/ˈpɛrɪdʒiː/noun
The point in an orbit closest to the earth.
The Greek roots
περί
perí
around, near
γῆ
gê
earth
Literally: “near the earth”
The story of the word
Coined alongside apogee for Ptolemaic astronomy and inherited by every system since. The numbers behind the modern fuss are real: the Moon comes within roughly 356,000 km at perigee and retreats past 406,000 km at apogee, a difference big enough to see, which is what a supermoon is. Tides run higher at perigee for the same reason.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 1590s
Same family
apogeeperimeterperiodgeology
In a sentence
A full moon at perigee looks noticeably larger, though few people notice without being told.