Lewis Short
orbis (noun M) : (nom. orbs, Ven. Carm. 8, 5.
* Abl. regul. orbe; but orbi,Lucr. 5, 74: ex orbi,Varr. R. R. 3, 5, 16; Rutil. ap. Charis. p. 112 P.: orbi terrae, in the meaning in the world, Cic. Sest. 30, 66; so, orbi terrarum,Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 38, § 82 Halm; id. Dom. 10, 24; id. Fragm. ap. Charis. p. 112 P.), m. etym. dub.; perh. akin to Sanscr. dhvar, bend, twist, any thing of a circular shape, a ring, round surface, disk, hoop, orbit, orb, a circle (class.; cf.: circus, circulus, gyrus, spira).
* Lit.: in orbem torquere,Cic. Univ. 7: curvare aliquid in orbem,Ov. M. 2, 715: certumque equitavit in orbem,id. ib. 12, 468.—Of a ring: et digitum justo commodus orbe teras,fit exactly,Ov. Am. 2, 15, 6: unionum,roundness,Plin. 9, 35, 56, § 113.—Of a circle formed by men: ut in orbem consisterent,place themselves in a circle, form a circle,Caes. B. G. 5, 33: cum illi, orbe facto, se defenderent,id. ib. 4, 37: orbem volventes suos increpans,Liv. 4, 28: in orbem pugnare,id. 28, 22, 15: in orbem sese stantibus equis defendere,id. 28, 33, 15: stella (φαέθων) eundem duodecim signorum orbem annis duodecim conficit, the zodiac, Cic. N. D. 2, 20, 52: lacteus,the Milky Way,id. Rep. 6, 16, 16.—Of the orbit of a heavenly body: sidera circulos suos orbesque conficiunt,Cic. Rep. 6, 15, 15.—Of a serpent, the windings, coils: immensis orbibus angues Incumbunt pelago,Verg. A. 2, 204.—Of a circular surface or disk: orbis mensae,a round table-top,Ov. H. 17, 87; cf. Juv. 11, 122.—Also, simply orbes, a round table, Mart. 2, 43; Juv. 1, 137.—Of a quoit or discus: ictus ab orbe,Ov. Ib. 590.—Of the scale of a balance: instabilis natat alterno depressior orbe,Tib. 4, 1, 44.—Of a mirror: addidit et nitidum sacratis crinibus orbem,Mart. 9, 18, 5.—Of a shield: illa (hasta) per orbem Aere cavum triplici ... Transiit,Verg. A. 10, 783; Petr. 89.—Of a mosaic pavement of rounded pieces of marble, Juv. 11, 175.—Of a scale, one side of a balance, Tib. 4, 1, 44.—Of the millstones of an oil-mill, Cato, R. R. 22.—Of the wooden disk placed over olives in pressing them, Cato, R. R. 18.—Of the hoop or tire of a wheel: rotarum orbes circumacti,Plin. 8, 16, 19, § 52.—Of the wheel itself: undaque jam tergo ferratos sustinet orbes,Verg. G. 3, 361.—Hence, the wheel of fortune, Tib. 1, 5, 70; Ov. Tr. 5, 8, 7; id. P. 2, 3, 56.—Of the socket of the eye: inanem luminis orbem,Ov. M. 14, 200.—Of the eye itself: gemino lumen ab orbe venit,Ov. Am. 1, 8, 16: ardentes oculorum orbes ad moenia torsit,Verg. A. 12, 670.—Of the sun's disk or orb: lucidus orbis,Verg. G. 1, 459.—Of the moon's disk or orb: quater junctis implevit cornibus orbem Luna, quater plenum tenuata retexuit orbem,Ov. M. 7, 530.—Of the circle of the world, the world, the universe: Juppiter arce suā totum cum spectet in orbem,Ov. F. 1, 85: renatus,the new-born day,Sil. 5, 56: terrarum or terrae, the circle or orb of the earth, the world (since the ancients regarded the earth as a circular plane or disk): permittitur infinita potestas orbis terrarum,Cic. Agr. 2, 13, 33: ager Campanus orbis terrae pulcherrimus,id. ib. 2, 28, 76; id. Sest. 30, 66: cunctus ob Italiam terrarum clauditur orbis?Verg. A. 1, 233; cf. id. ib. 7, 224.—Also, simply orbis (so mostly poet.): hic, ubi nunc Roma est orbis caput, arbor et herbae,Ov. F. 5, 93: unus,Juv. 10, 168; 4, 148: universus,Vulg. Luc. 2, 1; id. Apoc. 12, 9.—Hence, a country, region, territory: Eoo dives ab orbe redit,the East,Ov. F. 3, 466: Assyrius,Juv. 2, 108: noster,Plin. 12, 12, 26, § 45.—A kind of fish, Plin. 32, 2, 5, § 14 Sillig; cf. Isid. Orig. 12, 6, 6.
* Trop., a circle.
* Of things that return at a certain period of time, a rotation, round, circuit: ut idem in singulos annos orbis volveretur,Liv. 3, 10: insigne regium in orbem per omnes iret,in rotation,id. 3, 36: orbis hic in re publicā est conversus,the circle of political changes,Cic. Att. 2, 9, 1.
* Orbis doctrinae, an encyclopoedia: orbis ille doctrinae quam Graeci ἐγκύκλιον παιδείαν vocant, Quint. 1, 10, 1.
* Of speech, a rounding off, roundness, rotundity: circuitum, et quasi orbem verborum conficere,Cic. de Or. 3, 51, 198: orationis,id. Or. 71, 234: historia non tam finitos numeros quam orbem quendam contextumque desiderat,Quint. 9, 4, 129.
* A circle or cycle of thought: sententiae Pyrrhonis in hunc orbem quem circumscripsimus, incidere non possunt,Cic. Fin. 5, 8, 23; cf.: circa vilem patulumque orbem,Hor. A. P. 132.
* Esp.: in orbem ire, to go the rounds, go around: quinque dierum spatio finiebatur imperium ac per omnes in orbem ibant,in turn,Liv. 1, 17, 6; 3, 36, 3.
Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary