perigee
/ˈpɛɹ.ə.d͡ʒi/noun
perigee is spelled P-E-R-I-G-E-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, perigee means “The point, in an orbit about the Earth, that is closest to the Earth: the periapsis of an Earth orbiter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of perigee is perigees.
How many letters and syllables are in perigee?
| Letters | 7: P-E-R-I-G-E-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 67,454th 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 perigee?
Perigee appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th 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 perigee?
- UK /ˈpɛɹ.ɪ.d͡ʒiː/
- US /ˈpɛɹ.ə.d͡ʒi/
Perigee has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-perigee.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of perigee
- perigees plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does perigee mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The point, in an orbit about the Earth, that is closest to the Earth: the periapsis of an Earth orbiter.
- 2
The point, in an orbit about any planet, that is closest to the planet: the periapsis of any satellite.
- 3
The point, in any trajectory of an object in space, where it is closest to the Earth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Perigee in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense closest point in an orbit about the Earth:
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 perigee come from?
From French périgée via Latin perigeum, perigaeum, ultimately from Ancient Greek περί (perí, “near”) + γῆ (gê, “Earth”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).