orb [LME] The Latin word orbis ‘ring’ is the ancestor of orb and orbit [M16th]. During the Middle Ages an orb was a sphere or circle. In the early 17th century it developed the particular sense of a golden globe surmounted by a cross, forming part of the royal regalia. Orbit was originally a term for the eye socket, but the astronomical sense of the regular course of a celestial body was used as early as 1649.