Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Architecture An apse.
- n. Astronomy The point of greatest or least distance of the orbit of a celestial body from a center of attraction.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In astronomy, a point in the eccentric orbit of a planet in which it is either furthest from or nearest to the body about which it revolves. The higher apsis is the point furthest from, and the lower apsis the point nearest to, the central body. The line of apsides is the line joining the apsides. These terms were originally applied to circular orbits, but are now extended to ellipses. Also
apse . - n. In architecture, same as apse.
- n. A reliquary or case in which the relies of saints are kept, especially one of a form imitating the curves of a dome or vault.
- n. Sometimes written absis.
Wiktionary
- n. architecture A recess or projection, with a dome or vault, at the east end of a church; an apse.
- n. astronomy Either of the points in the elliptical orbit of a planet or comet where it is closest or furthest from the sun; perihelion or aphelion; an apside
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Astron.) One of the two points of an orbit, as of a planet or satellite, which are at the greatest and least distance from the central body, corresponding to the aphelion and perihelion of a planet, or to the apogee and perigee of the moon. The more distant is called the
higher apsis ; the other, thelower apsis ; and the line joining them, theline of apsides . - n. (Math.) In a curve referred to polar coördinates, any point for which the radius vector is a maximum or minimum.
- n. (Arch.) Same as Apse.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a domed or vaulted recess or projection on a building especially the east end of a church; usually contains the altar
Etymologies
- Via Latin apsis, from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsis, "arch, vault"). See also apse. (Wiktionary)
- Late Latin, from Latin, arch, vault, from Greek hapsis, from haptein, to fasten. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In the apsis was a mosaic which represented the Blessed Trinity, and of which in 1512 some remnants were still found.”
“The presbytery was also known as apsis, exedra, concha, designations referring to its form; bema from the fact that it was elevated above the level of the nave and in consequence reached by a stairway of a few steps; tribuna because of its location and general resemblance to the tribunal in civil basilicas whence the magistrates administered justice.”
“This original church was modelled after the ancient Basilica, or hall of justice or of commerce: at one end was an elevated tribunal, and back of this what was called the "apsis," -- a rounded space with arched roof.”
“The east choir with the 1830s high altar; the rather interesting apsis painting was added in 1928:”
“Preliminary, it seems that we are dealing with a Roman settlement, followed by a (early) Byzantine use of the site, during which period at least one church was erected (cf. inscription by a deacon called Zosimos, who dedicated a door to a church, the apsis of which was found in situ nearby).”
Territorial Archaeological Survey « Interactive Dig Sagalassos – City in the Clouds
“Urban VIII; On an ancient and interesting Christian sarcophagus taken from the Vatican cemetery is represented a basilica with its apsis, and near it a circular building evidently meant for the baptistery: this is covered with a cupola surmounted by the monogram of”
“When this apsis, therefore, of Mars shall appear in Virgo, who shall expect less than a strange catastrophe of human affairs in the commonwealth, monarchy, and kingdom of England?”
“The mosaics in the apsis are much restored, but they are the only known work of Cimabue, [56] and are consequently, even in their present condition, valuable and interesting.”
“It is variously designated apsis or concha (from the shell-like, hemispherical dome), and since the Middle Ages especially it has been called "choir", from the choir of singers who are here stationed.”
“Nola, Fondi, etc. The basilica at Nola counted five naves and had on each side four additions or chapels (cubicula), and an apsis arranged in a clover shape.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘apsis’.
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2057 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 569 more...
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harmonygritz's Cross Words
Words discovered while doing puzzles. Includes puns, e.g. taper vs. tapir.
hodad, hart, avocet, cahier, blackbird, brace, fetor, Bren, Rialto, bijou, liveried, stentor and 64 more...
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Astronomical Words
Words used in Astronomy
perihelion, perigee, apoapsis, periastron, apastron, apsis, zenith, aphelion, perturbations, barycenter, equinox, nadir and 21 more...
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trace
utum, diorite, Mandelbrot, uropygium, bravura, vulpine, vervain, burdock, souse, shantay, legume, sinew and 26 more...
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Notre Dame de Paris
From Notre Dame de Paris by good ole Victor Hugo. (Also called The Hunchback of Notre Dame.)
cuivres, diable, hawthorn, provost, epithalamium, affrighted, mendicants, vagrants, Styx, chimeras, coif, matagrabolise and 196 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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fuffbee's Words
panopticon, perihelion, apsis, cuppycake, nexus, fufflebee, shawshank, hoi, lool, apogee, id, rubedo and 90 more...
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The Innocents Abroad
Words rounded up while reading The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain.
rakish, excursionist, bowelless, pilgrimizing, melodeon, woebegone, abaft, sextant, veriest, behindhand, stanchion, avast and 188 more...
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Selected Terms from Falconer's New Un...
1815 edition; ed. William Burney (London: Chatham Publishing, 2006).
widows' men, ballatoon, boomkin, leefange, falconet, maculae, lepus, koff, pardo, periagua, dingass, saik and 238 more...
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Brief Interviews With Hideous Men
By David Foster Wallace
emeritus, apian, fenestration, prophylax, pelisse, niggardly, lallating, pica, simulacrum, floridly, acquiesced, truculent and 114 more...
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ephemerides
being words related to astronomy, stellar cartography, and the music of the spheres, including names of planets, stars and constellations
ephemerides, ascension, declination, apogee, planet, star, constellation, galaxy, system, syzygy, ecliptic, sun and 202 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3255 more...
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Alpha
A
aasvogel, aberuncator, abibliophobia, abscission, absquatulate, abstemious, abstergent, abstriction, acalculia, acanthus, achillean, acuminate and 86 more...
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leaven heaven
a haven for lightness
leaven, lever, levity, alleviate, carnival, elevate, legerdemain, mezzo-relievo, relevant, relieve, leprechaun, lung and 36 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for apsis.

chained_bear "... in astronomy, is applied to either of the two points in the orbits of planets, where they are at their greatest and least distance from the sun or earth. The higher apsis is that which is nearest the sun or earth, and is synonimous (sic) with perihelion and perigee; the lower apsis is that which is farthest from the sun or earth; and corresponds to aphelion, or apogee. The line which joins these two points is called the line of the apses, or apsides."
—Falconer's New Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1816), 19–20 Oct 14, 2008