Etymology

periapsis

P3E1R1I1A1P3S1I1S1

Today it means: The point of a body's (elliptical) orbit in a 2-body gravitational system such that the distance between the two bodies (measured from their respective centres of mass) is at its minimum. Full definition →

English apsis ← Ancient Greek περῐ́ (perĭ́) ← Proto-Indo-European *per-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Ancient Greekπερῐ́ (perĭ́)
  3. Englishperi-
  4. Englishapsis
  5. English todayperiapsis

From peri- + apsis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.