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Neptune

 - 7 dictionary results

nep⋅tune

[nep-toon, -tyoon]
–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.

Origin:
< NL Neptunea; see Neptune, -ea

Nep⋅tune

[nep-toon, -tyoon]
–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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Neptune
Nep·tune   (něp'tōōn', -tyōōn')   
n.  
    1. Roman Mythology The god of water, later identified with the Greek Poseidon.

    2. The sea.

  1. The eighth planet from the sun, having a sidereal period of revolution around the sun of 164.8 years at a mean distance of 4.5 billion kilometers (2.8 billion miles), a mean radius of 24,000 kilometers (15,000 miles), and a mass 17.2 times that of Earth.


[Latin Neptūnus.]
Nep·tu'ni·an (-tōō'nē-ən, -tyōō'-) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

Neptune

[Greek name Poseidon]

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.

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.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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
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Computing Dictionary

Neptune
A hypertext system for computer assisted software engineering, developed at Tektronix.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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