orbĭta

I. A track or rut made in the ground by a wheel.

A. Lit. (class.): impressa orbita, Cic. Att. 2, 21, 2; Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 3, § 6; Verg. G. 3, 293; Liv. 32, 17.—

B. Trop., a track, course, path (ante-class. and poet.): neque id ab orbitā matrum familias instituti, quod, etc., Varr. ap. Non. 542, 28; Plin. 8, 58, 83, § 227; a beaten path, Quint. 2, 13, 16: veteris culpae, Juv. 14, 37.—

II. An impression, mark left by a ligature: vinculi, Plin. 17, 23, 35, § 210.—

III. A circuit, orbit: orbita lunae, Auct. Aetn. 230: lunaris illa orbita, Sen. Q. N. 7, 10, 2.