Phrase guide

Roche limit

noun · 1 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

The closest a satellite can approach its parent body before the gravitational forces holding it together are overwhelmed by tidal forces pulling it apart.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Roche radius

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Named after French astronomer Édouard Roche, who first calculated the limit in 1848.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: limite de Roche — distance of a satellite from its parent body at which its internal gravitational forces exactly balance the external tidal forces
  • German: Rochegrenze — distance of a satellite from its parent body at which its internal gravitational forces exactly balance the external tidal forces
  • Italian: limite di Roche — distance of a satellite from its parent body at which its internal gravitational forces exactly balance the external tidal forces
  • Russian: преде́л Ро́ша (predél Róša) — distance of a satellite from its parent body at which its internal gravitational forces exactly balance the external tidal forces