super-earth
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.77 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any extrasolar rocky planet several times larger than Earth, especially such a planet detected as it transits its star.
Example Sentences
- "Researchers had been hoping to spot water vapor in the atmosphere of a more Earth-like planet, especially one in its star’s habitable zone, but these worlds are relatively small, making observations of their atmospheres extraordinarily difficult. The larger the planet, the easier the detection, so researchers focused their efforts on super-Earths: planets with masses up to 10 times that of our home planet, which means they might also sport rocky surfaces."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Latin super Latin super-lbor. English super- English Earth English super-Earth From super- + Earth.