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The trajectory of an object is the path it follows once in flight or in motion.

The word is especially used in the context of the path of projectiles like rockets, but it can be used in many different contexts.

The trajectory of a golf ball is the curved path it follows in the air after being hit by a golf club. The trajectory of an asteroid is the path it follows in space. The potential trajectory of a storm is the route that it may travel.

In geometry, trajectory is used in a more specific way to refer to a curve that intersects through a series of points at the same angle.

Example: Try to determine the trajectory of the ball as it flies through the air so you can position yourself to catch it.

The first records of the word trajectory come from the 1660s. It comes from the Latin �ٰ�����𳦳�ō�����ܲ�, meaning “casting over,” from the verb �ٰ��徱�������, “to cast” or “to throw over or across.” The first part of the word is equivalent to trans-, meaning “across,” and the root jec comes from the Latin verb jacere, meaning “to throw” (the same root forms the basis of motion-related words like projectile, eject, and many others).

Thanks to gravity, what goes up must come down. The path that something follows as it takes the journey up and then down again is its trajectory. When gravity is in play, objects that are thrown or propelled in some way follow a trajectory in the shape of what’s technically known as a parabola, which is basically a kind of curve. The word trajectory is commonly applied to the path of things that travel in this way, but it can be used more generally to simply refer to the route of something from one place to another, such as the trajectory of a storm. It can also be used in a more figurative way, as in career trajectory—meaning the path that one’s career has taken.

What are some other forms related to trajectory?

• trajectories (plural)
• trajectile (adjective)
• trajection (noun)

What are some synonyms for trajectory?

• course
• path
• route
• track

What are some words that share a root or word element with trajectory?

• transit
• projectile
• eject

What are some words that often get used in discussing trajectory?

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• curve
• flight
• rocket
• missile
• bullet
• storm
• parabola
• geometry

The word trajectory is commonly used to refer to the path of projectiles like rockets, but it can be used in many different contexts.

I’m gonna hire an architect and build a Wrigley Field fountain that has water shooting in the exact trajectory of javier Baez’s home runs.

— Basia Marotta (@BasiaMarotta)

The rocket has separated from the first stage and is being boosted to orbit by the Centaur second stage. is now preparing for a second burn that will put it on a trajectory towards Mars.

— NASA (@NASA)

The Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann has said it is impossible to predict how Hurricane Lorenzo will affect Ireland, but the storm's trajectory should become clearer over the next 48 hours

— RTÉ News (@rtenews)

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Which of the following words is not a synonym of trajectory?

A. path
B. route
C. point
D. track