I. A track or rut made in the ground by a wheel.
A. Lit. (class.): “impressa orbita,” Cic. Att. 2, 21, 2; Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 3, § 6; Verg. G. 3, 293; Liv. 32, 17.—
B. Trop., a track, course, path (ante-class. and poet.): neque id ab orbitā matrum familias instituti, quod, etc., Varr. ap. Non. 542, 28; Plin. 8, 58, 83, § 227; a beaten path, Quint. 2, 13, 16: “veteris culpae,” i. e. bad example, Juv. 14, 37.—
II. An impression, mark left by a ligature: “vinculi,” Plin. 17, 23, 35, § 210.—
