how to say “planet” in Hebrew
כּוֹכַב לֶכֶת
For a while, Hebrew speakers would simply call a planet פְּלָנֶטָה .
.That is, until the makers of Modern Hebrew came up with a better term: כּוֹכַב לֶכֶת, or a walking star.
כוכב לכת brings together the old and the new, beautifully illustrating two facts: 1. that planets look like stars, when viewed from Earth with the naked eye, and 2. that modern science has taught us that these star-appearing bodies “walk around” the sun in an orbit.
The term in action:
פְּלוּטוֹ כְּבָר לֹא נֶחְשָׁב בְּמִנְיַן כּוֹכְבֵי הַלֶּכֶת.
Pluto is no longer considered in (the number of) the planets.