Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - apogee

 noun  Etymology: French apogee, from New Latin apogaeum, from Greek apogaion, from neuter of apogeios, apogaios far from the earth, from apo- + ge, gaia earth  Date: 1594  1. the point in the orbit of an object (as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth; also the point farthest from a planet or a satellite (as the moon) reached by an object orbiting it — compare perigee  2. the farthest or highest point ; culmination Aegean civilization reached its ~ in Crete  • apogean adjective