'perigean' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'perigeion', where 'peri-' meant 'around' and 'gē' meant 'earth'.

'perigean' changed from the Greek word 'perigeion' into Late/Medieval Latin (e.g. 'perigeum'), passed into Old French as 'périgée'/'perigee', and an English adjective 'perigean' was formed from the noun 'perigee'.

Initially it meant 'around the earth' or 'nearest the earth', and over time it came to mean 'relating to the point in an orbit closest to the Earth' or 'occurring at or near that point'.