trajectory

/tɹəˈd͡ʒɛktəɹi/

trajectory means the path an object takes as it moves. It carries an Arena rating of 1433, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.

Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, trajectory ranks #198 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #256 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #847 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,014 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.

trajectory is pronounced /tɹəˈd͡ʒɛktəɹi/.

Why “trajectory” is a great word

The curved path followed by an object moving through space under the action of given forces. From New Latin trāiectōria, used by Newton, from Latin trāiectōrius ("of or pertaining to throwing across"), from trāiectus, past participle of trāiciō ("to throw across"), from trans- ("across") + iaciō ("to throw"). Unlike a "course," which implies a broad, intended direction, or a "path," which is a neutral line of travel, a trajectory is the specific, calculable arc carved by initial impulse and relentless physics. It is the parabola of a cannonball, the doomed grace of a dive, the gravitational spiral of a falling leaf—the plotted line of every thrown thing, from a stone to a life, between its launch and its inevitable landing.

Etymology

From New Latin trāiectōria f (“trajectory”) (used by Newton), the feminine of trāiectōrius (“of or pertaining to throwing across”), from Latin trāiectus (“thrown over or across”), past participle of trāiciō, from trans- (“across, beyond”) (see trans-) + iaciō (“to throw”) (from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- (“to throw, impel”)). Middle French and Middle English had trajectorie (“end of a funnel”), from Latin trāiectōrium.

noun

The path an object takes as it moves.
The path of a body as it travels through space.
The ordered set of intermediate states assumed by a dynamical system as a result of time evolution.
A course of development, such as that of a war or career.

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

trajection 64% match — The act of trajecting (casting or moving) vs trajectory →
traject 63% match — A place for passing across; a passage; a ferry. vs trajectory →
trajectorywise 62% match — With regards to a trajectory vs trajectory →
trajectorized 61% match — That has a trajectory assigned vs trajectory →
trajector 60% match — An instrument once used to track bullets in a body, through the entrance wound vs trajectory →
trajectorize 60% match — To establish a trajectory for vs trajectory →
tractory 59% match — A tractrix. vs trajectory →
traversary 57% match — Traversing; following a course. vs trajectory →