![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
nep·tune 
Audio Help [nep-toon, -tyoon] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [nep-toon, -tyoon] Pronunciation Key –noun
| any whelk of the genus Neptunea, esp. N. decemcostata, common along the eastern coast of North America and having a shell with seven to ten raised reddish-brown spiral ridges on a pale beige or yellow background. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Neptune
To learn more about Neptune visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
Nep·tune
Audio Help [nep-toon, -tyoon] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [nep-toon, -tyoon] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | the ancient Roman god of the sea, identified with the Greek god Poseidon. |
| 2. | the sea or ocean: Neptune's mighty roar. |
| 3. | Astronomy. the planet eighth in order from the sun, having an equatorial diameter of 30,200 mi. (48,600 km), a mean distance from the sun of 2794.4 million mi. (4497.1 million km), a period of revolution of 164.81 years, and two moons. |
| 4. | a township in E New Jersey. 28,366. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
| Nep·tune
Audio Help (něp'tōōn', -tyōōn') Pronunciation Key
n.
[Latin Neptūnus.] Nep·tu'ni·an (-tōō'nē-ən, -tyōō'-) adj. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Neptune
c.1385, from L. Neptunus, the Roman god of the sea (later identified with Gk. Poseidon), probably from PIE base *(e)nebh- "moist" (cf. L. nebula "fog, mist, cloud;" see nebula). The planet so named was discovered by Galle in 1846. Until the identification of Pluto in 1930, it was the most distant planet known. Neptunian (1794) in the geological sense refers to actions of water; usually opposed to volcanic or plutonic.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| neptune | |
noun | |
| 1. | (Roman mythology) god of the sea; counterpart of Greek Poseidon |
| 2. | a giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 8th planet from the sun is the most remote of the gas giants; "the existence of Neptune was predicted from perturbations in the orbit of Uranus and it was then identified in 1846" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Neptune
Audio Help (něp't n') Pronunciation Key
The eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth largest, with a diameter almost four times that of Earth. Neptune is a gas giant with a very active weather system, exhibiting extremely long and powerful storms with the fastest winds observed in the solar system. Neptune's axis is tilted 28.8° from the plane of its orbit, and its summer and winter seasons each last 40 years. For a period of 20 years out of every 248, Pluto's highly elliptical orbit crosses within that of Neptune, making Neptune the farthest planet from the Sun during that period. Neptune has four faint rings and 13 known moons and appears blue due to the absorption of red light by the methane within its atmosphere. See Table at solar system. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Neptune
The Roman and Greek god who ruled the sea.
Note: Neptune is frequently portrayed as a bearded giant with a fish's scaly tail, holding a large three-pronged spear, or trident.
Note: The eighth planet from the sun (the Earth is third) is named Neptune.
[Chapter:] Mythology and Folklore
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Neptune
In astronomy, a major planet, the eighth planet from the sun. Neptune is named for the Roman god of the sea. Neptune is similar in size and composition to Uranus. It is usually visible only through a telescope and was discovered in the 1840s. For a period ending in 1999, Pluto's orbit took it inside the orbit of neptune. (See solar system; see under “Mythology and Folklore.”)
Note: Some astronomers have suggested that Pluto is not a planet in the usual sense but is an object more like an asteroid, and that Neptune, therefore, is actually the outermost planet.
[Chapter:] Physical Sciences and Mathematics
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Neptune
A hypertext system for computer assisted software engineering, developed at Tektronix.
| The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe |
Neptune Beach, FL (city, FIPS 48100) Location: 30.31474 N, 81.39374 W
Population (1990): 6816 (3265 housing units)
Area: 6.3 sq km (land), 11.4 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 32266
Neptune City, NJ (borough, FIPS 49920) Location: 40.20060 N, 74.03311 W
Population (1990): 4997 (2298 housing units)
Area: 2.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 07753
| U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau |
Neptune
Nep"tune\, n. [L. Neptunus.]1. (Rom. Myth.) The son of Saturn and Ops, the god of the waters, especially of the sea. He is represented as bearing a trident for a scepter. 2. (Astron.) The remotest known planet of our system, discovered -- as a result of the computations of Leverrier, of Paris -- by Galle, of Berlin, September 23, 1846. Its mean distance from the sun is about 2,775,000,000 miles, and its period of revolution is about 164,78 years. Neptune powder, an explosive containing nitroglycerin, -- used in blasting. Neptune's cup (Zo["o]l.), a very large, cup-shaped, marine sponge (Thalassema Neptuni).| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
NEPTUNE
NEPTUNE: in Acronym Finder
| Acronym Finder, © 1988-2007 Mountain Data Systems |
neptune
neptune: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary
| On-line Medical Dictionary, © 1997-98 Academic Medical Publishing & CancerWEB |
View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web
Share This: 
Perform a new search, or try your search for "Neptune" at:
- Amazon.com - Shop for books, music and more
- Reference.com - Encyclopedia Search
- Reference.com - Web Search powered by Ask.com
- Thesaurus.com - Search for synonyms and antonyms
