Phrase guide

Oort Cloud

name · noun · 4 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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  • /ˈɔːrt klaʊd/

1

name

Meaning 1

The Solar System's Oort cloud, extending from 50,000 to 100,000 astronomical units (approximately 1 light year) from the sun; supposedly the source of most comets around the Solar System.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Öpik-Oort Cloud

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of Oort Cloud (“the Solar System's Oort cloud”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A roughly spherical region of space composed of comet-like bodies and other minor planets and asteroids that orbit distantly in a planetary 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

4

noun

Meaning 4

(astronomy) a hypothetical huge collection of comets orbiting the sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto; perturbations (as by other stars) can upset a comet's orbit and may send it tumbling toward the sun

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage

History

Etymology

Named after the Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort, who revived the Estonian astronomer Ernst Öpik’s idea from 1932 of a reservoir of long-period comets in the form of an orbiting cloud at the outermost edge of the Solar System in 1950 to resolve a paradox about the origin of comets.

A cloud-like structure, named after Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, who proposed it.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: Oortwolk — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Arabic: سَحَابَة أُورْط (saḥābat ʔūrṭ) — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Chinese Mandarin: 奧爾特雲 /奥尔特云 (Ào'ěrtè yún) — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Dutch: Oortwolk — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Finnish: Oortin pilvi — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • French: nuage de Oort — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Galician: Nube de Oort — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • German: Oortsche Wolke — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Hungarian: Oort-felhő — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Italian: nube di Oort — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Japanese: オールトの雲 (Ōruto-no kumo) — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Korean: 오르트 구름 (Oreuteu gureum) — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Persian: ابر اورت (abr-e urt) — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Polish: Obłok Oorta — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Portuguese: nuvem de Oort — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Russian: о́блако О́орта (óblako Óorta) — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Spanish: nube de Oort — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Swedish: Oorts kometmoln — cloud of comets in the Solar System
  • Turkish: Oort Bulutu — cloud of comets in the Solar System