circumbinary
adjective
circumbinary is spelled C-I-R-C-U-M-B-I-N-A-R-Y: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 74 million words in written English, the 272,462nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, circumbinary means “Having an orbit around both stars in a binary star system, or relating to such an orbit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in circumbinary?
| Letters | 12: C-I-R-C-U-M-B-I-N-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 74 million words; the 272,462nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is circumbinary?
Circumbinary appears about once in every 74 million words in written English, the 272,462nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
What does circumbinary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having an orbit around both stars in a binary star system, or relating to such an orbit.
The effect of a reduced collision rate at large orbital radii on the formation timescale of planets is possibly explained by Alexander (2012) who suggests that circumbinary planets have more time to form than planets around single stars.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Circumbinary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having an orbit around binary stars, or relating to such an orbit:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | circumbinaire |
| German | zirkumbinär |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does circumbinary come from?
From circum- + binary.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).