URANUS Definition & Meaning

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Uranus

[ yoor-uh-nuhs, yoo-rey- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Astronomy. the planet seventh in order from the sun, having an equatorial diameter of 32,600 miles (56,460 km), a mean distance from the sun of 1,784 million miles (2,871 million km), a period of revolution of 84.07 years, and 15 moons.
Also Classical Mythology. the personification of Heaven and ruler of the world, son and husband of Gaia (Earth) and father of the Titans, who was castrated and dethroned by his youngest son, Cronus, at the instigation of Gaia.

Uranus

/ jʊˈreɪnəs; ˈjʊrənəs /

noun

Greek myth the personification of the sky, who, as a god, ruled the universe and fathered the Titans and Cyclopes on his wife and mother Gaea (earth). He was overthrown by his son Cronus

Uranus

/ ˈjʊrənəs; jʊˈreɪnəs /

noun

one of the giant planets, the seventh planet from the sun, sometimes visible to the naked eye. It has 27 satellites, a ring system, and an axis of rotation almost lying in the plane of the orbit. Mean distance from sun: 2870 million km; period of revolution around sun: 84 years; period of axial rotation: 17.23 hours; diameter and mass: 4 and 14.5 times that of earth respectively

Uranus

/ ��r′ə-��ə��,��-��′- /

The seventh planet from the Sun and the third largest, with a diameter about four times that of Earth. Though slightly larger than Nepture, Uranus is the least massive of the four gas giants and is the only one with no internal heat source. A cloud layer of frozen methane gives it a faint bluish-green color, and it is encircled by a thin system of 11 rings and 27 moons. Uranus's axis is tilted 98° from the vertical—the greatest such tilt in the solar system—with the result that its poles are in continuous darkness or continuous sunlight for nearly half of its 84-year orbital period.
See Table at solar system

Uranus

In astronomy , the seventh major planet from the sun , named for the Greek god of the sky. Uranus was the first planet discovered in modern times (1781). ( See solar system .)

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Uranus¹

From Latin Ū��Գܲ�, from Greek ��ܰ��ó��; Uranus def 2 was first recorded in 1700–10, and Uranus def 1 in 1780–85

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Uranus¹

C19: from Latin Ū��Գܲ� , from Greek Ouranos heaven

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Uranus is on the threshold of human vision, Will said.

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Skywatchers are in for a treat this week as seven planets - Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn will all be briefly visible in the evening sky.

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That is why astrobiologists are increasingly turning their eyes toward icy bodies like the Jovian moons of Europa and Ganymede, Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus, Uranus' moon Miranda and the dwarf planet Ceres.

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“It was not expected based on previous estimates of its size, which means there are likely many surprises awaiting us in the Uranus system,” Strong told Salon.

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These immiscible layers would explain why neither Uranus nor Neptune has a magnetic field like Earth's.

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