Phrase guide

astronomical unit

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

149,597,870,700 metres, the approximate mean distance from the Earth to the Sun (the semi-major axis of Earth's orbit), (symbol AU), used to measure distances in the solar system.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a unit of length used for distances within the solar system; equal to the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun (approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: AU

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: astronomy unit

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: وَحْدَة فَلَكِيَّة (waḥda falakiyya) — measure of distance
  • Asturian: unidá astronómica — measure of distance
  • Basque: unitate astronomiko — measure of distance
  • Belarusian: астранамічная адзінка (astranamičnaja adzinka) — measure of distance
  • Bulgarian: астрономи́ческа едини́ца (astronomíčeska ediníca) — measure of distance
  • Catalan: unitat astronòmica — measure of distance
  • Chinese Cantonese: 天文單位 /天文单位 (tin1 man4 daan1 wai2) — measure of distance
  • Chinese: 天文單位 /天文单位 (thian-bûn tan-ūi) — measure of distance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 天文單位 /天文单位 (tiānwén dānwèi) — measure of distance
  • Czech: astronomická jednotka — measure of distance
  • Danish: astronomisk enhed — measure of distance
  • Esperanto: astronomia unuo — measure of distance
  • Estonian: astronoomiline ühik — measure of distance
  • Finnish: astronominen yksikkö — measure of distance
  • Finnish: tähtitieteellinen yksikkö — measure of distance
  • French: unité astronomique — measure of distance
  • Galician: unidade astronómica — measure of distance
  • German: Astronomische Einheit — measure of distance
  • Greek: αστρονομική μονάδα (astronomikí monáda) — measure of distance
  • Hebrew: יחידה אסטרונומית (yekhida astronomit) — measure of distance
  • Hindi: खगोलीय इकाई (khagolīya ikāī) — measure of distance
  • Hungarian: csillagászati egység — measure of distance
  • Icelandic: stjarnfræðieining — measure of distance
  • Irish: aonad réalteolaíoch — measure of distance
  • Italian: unità astronomica — measure of distance
  • Japanese: 天文単位 (tenmon tan'i) — measure of distance
  • Kazakh: астрономиялық бірлік (astronomiälyq bırlık) — measure of distance
  • Korean: 천문단위 (cheonmun danwi) — measure of distance
  • Latin: ūnitās astronomica — measure of distance
  • Latvian: astronomiskā vienība — measure of distance
  • Lithuanian: astronominis vienetas — measure of distance
  • Malay: unit astronomi — measure of distance
  • Malay: satuan astronomi — measure of distance
  • Maltese: unità astronomika — measure of distance
  • Norwegian Bokmål: astronomisk enhet — measure of distance
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: astronomisk eining — measure of distance
  • Occitan: unitat astronomica — measure of distance
  • Persian: واحد نجومی (vâhed nojumi) — measure of distance
  • Polish: jednostka astronomiczna — measure of distance
  • Portuguese: unidade astronômica — measure of distance
  • Portuguese: unidade astronómica — measure of distance
  • Punjabi: ਖਗੋਲੀ ਇਕਾਈ (khagolī ikāī) — measure of distance
  • Romanian: unitate astronomică — measure of distance
  • Russian: астрономи́ческая едини́ца (astronomíčeskaja jediníca) — measure of distance
  • Sicilian: unità astrunòmica — measure of distance
  • Slovak: astronomická jednotka — measure of distance
  • Slovene: astronómska enòta — measure of distance
  • Spanish: unidad astronómica — measure of distance
  • Swedish: astronomisk enhet — measure of distance
  • Tamil: வானியல் அலகு (vāṉiyal alaku) — measure of distance
  • Thai: หน่วยดาราศาสตร์ (nùai-daa-raa-sàat) — measure of distance
  • Turkish: astronomik birim — measure of distance
  • Urdu: فلکیاتی اکائی — measure of distance
  • Uzbek: astronomik birlik — measure of distance
  • Yakut: астроном кээмэйэ (astronom keemeye) — measure of distance