orb

—orbless, adj. —orblike, adj.

/awrb/, n.

1. a sphere or globe: a Christmas tree hung with brightly colored orbs.

2. the eyeball or eye: He looks with blind orbs on an indifferent world.

3. any of the heavenly bodies, as the sun or moon: He lay on the grass, warmed by that orb of day, the sun.

4. a globe bearing a cross; the mound or emblem of sovereignty, esp. as part of the regalia of England.

5. Astrol. the number of degrees from exactness within which an aspect operates.

6. a circle or something circular.

7. Astron. (formerly) the orbit of a heavenly body.

8. the earth.

v.t.

9. to form into a circle or sphere.

10. Archaic. to encircle; enclose.

v.i.

11. to move in an orbit.

12. to form into an orb or globe; round out.

[1520-30; < L orbis circle, disk, orb]

* * *

▪ royal emblem

      emblem of royal power, usually made of precious metal and jewels and consisting of a sphere surmounted by a cross. The ball as a symbol of the cosmos, or of the universe as a harmonious whole, is derived from the ancient Romans, who associated it with Jupiter and, hence, with the emperor as his earthly representative.

      Christians adapted the symbol by setting a cross above the ball to signify the world dominated by Christianity. Rulers were often depicted with the orb, but the first to hold it in hand at his coronation was the Holy Roman emperor Henry II in 1014; thereafter the “imperial apple” became an important emblem of the royal power invested in the monarch.

* * *