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apsis
[ ap-sis ]
noun
- Astronomy. either of two points in an eccentric orbit, one higher apsis farthest from the center of attraction, the other lower apsis nearest to the center of attraction.
- Architecture. an apse.
apsis
/ ˈæpsɪs; æpˈsaɪdəl; ˈæpsɪdəl /
noun
- Also calledapse either of two points lying at the extremities of an eccentric orbit of a planet, satellite, etc, such as the aphelion and perihelion of a planet or the apogee and perigee of the moon. The line of apsides connects two such points and is the principal axis of the orbit
- See apseanother name for apse
apsis
/ ăp′sĭs /
, Plural apsides ăp′sĭ-dēz′
- In the path of an orbiting body, either of the two points at which it is closest to or farthest away from the body it is orbiting.
- See also apoapsis
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Derived Forms
- apsidal, adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of apsis1
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Example Sentences
The nave of the chapel is in tolerably good preservation, but the apsis has suffered severely from damp.
The tomb is in the wall, behind a range of pillars, which form a kind of open screen round the apsis.
But the choir and apsis were previously of a different æra from the rest of the edifice.
The seven-sided apsis with ambulatory, on which open out seven pentagonal radiating chapels.
Between the apsis and the nave stood the altar, or rather the common table, canopied by a baldachin supported by columns.
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