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# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-298/
- Published: 2025-06-01T18:15:15.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-01T18:15:14.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

trajectory (noun):

1: the curve that a body (such as a planet or comet in its orbit or a rocket) describes in space  
2: a path, progression, or line of development resembling a physical trajectory

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trajectory?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : Formed with part of the prefix trans-, "across", trajectory means a "hurling across". By calculating the effect of gravity and other forces, the trajectory of an object launched into space at a known speed can be computed precisely. Missiles stand a chance of hitting their target only if their trajectory has been plotted accurately. The word is used most often in physics and engineering, but not always; we can also say, for example, that the trajectory of a whole life may be set in a person's youth, or that a new book traces the long trajectory of the French empire.

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