orrery
/ˈɔɹ.ə.ɹi/noun
orrery is spelled O-R-R-E-R-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, orrery means “A clockwork model of any given solar system” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of orrery is orreries.
How many letters and syllables are in orrery?
| Letters | 6: O-R-R-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 95,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is orrery?
Orrery appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd 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).
How do you pronounce orrery?
- UK /ˈɒɹ.ə.ɹi/
- US /ˈɔɹ.ə.ɹi/
- US /ˈɑɹ.ə.ɹi/
Orrery has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-orrery.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of orrery
- orreries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does orrery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A clockwork model of any given solar system.
- 2
A conceptual model of someone's worldview.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Orrery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense clockwork model:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Planetenmaschine, Orrery |
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 orrery come from?
Named after Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1676–1731), for whom such a device was made. The placename is from Irish Orbhraighe, originally the name of a tribe (Orbh-raighe (“Orb's people”)), and then of a territory and a barony.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).