An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

The spectrum formed by a dispersing prism or a dispersing prism system.

Adj. of → prism + → spectrum.

The religion of → Protestants.

→ protestant; → -ism.

1) A belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2) A policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination (Dictionary.com).

→ race; → -ism.

A philosophical doctrine that holds that → reason alone, unaided by experience, can arrive at basic truth regarding the world.

From → rational + -ism a Gk. suffix used in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, and so forth.

Râyan, → reason; xerad, → rational; bâvari, from bâvar "belief" (Mid.Pers. wâbar "beleif;" Proto-Iranian *uar- "to choose; to convince; to believe;" cf. Av. var- "to choose; to convince" varəna-, varana- "conviction, faith;" O.Pers. v(a)r- "to choose; to convince;" Skt. vr- "to choose," vara- "choosing").

1) An inclination or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract or speculative.
2) Philo.: The doctrine that material objects exist independently of our perception of them.
3) Art, literature: The attempt to describe the objects or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form.

→ real; → -ism.

A prism that is used as a dispersing element in a spectrograph.

→ refracting; → prism.

The belief that truth is relative and may vary from individual to individual, from group to group, or from time to time, having no objective standard.

From → relative + -ism a suffix used in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, etc.

Bâzâni-bâvari, from bâzâni, → relative, + bâvari, from bâvar "belief" (Mid.Pers. wâbar "beleif;" Proto-Iranian *uar- "to choose; to convince; to believe;" cf. Av. var- "to choose; to convince" varəna-, varana- "conviction, faith;" O.Pers. v(a)r- "to choose; to convince;" Skt. vr- "to choose," vara- "choosing").

The view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education.

→ secular.

Of, subject to, or caused by → vibrations of the → Earth. → seismic wave.

From seism, → seismo-, + → -ic.

An → elastic wave generated in the → Earth by an → impulse such as an → earthquake or an → explosion. Seismic waves may travel either along or near the Earth's surface or through the Earth's interior.

→ seismic; → wave.

A combining form meaning "earthquake;" → seismology, → seismograph, etc.

From Gk. seismo- combining form of seismos "shock, earthquake," from seiein "to shake."

Larzé-, from larzé "shaking, trembling," from larzidan "to tremble, shiver;" Mid.Pers. larzidan "to shake, tremble;" Manichean Mid.Pers. rarz- "to shiver with fever;" Proto-Iranian *rarz- "to shake, tremble."

An instrument that detects, magnifies, and records → seismic waves, especially those caused by → earthquakes or → explosions.

→ seismo-; → -graph.

The branch of geophysics that is concerned with the study of earthquakes and measurement of the mechanical properties of the Earth.

→ seismo-; → -logy.

1) A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind.
2a) The ancient school of Pyrrho of Elis that stressed the uncertainty of our beliefs in order to oppose dogmatism.
2b) The doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible, either in a particular domain or in general.
2c) A methodology based on an assumption of doubt with the aim of acquiring approximate or relative certainty.
3) Doubt or disbelief of religious tenets (TheFreeDictionary.com).

→ skeptic; → -ism.

Belief in the doctrine of supernatural or divine agency as manifested in the world, in human events, religious revelation, etc. (Dictionary.com).

→ super-; → naturalism.

A kind of → deductive reasoning whereby from two initial → propositions (two → premises) a third related proposition (→ conclusion) is derived. The typical form of a → categorical syllogism is "A is B;" "C is A;" "Therefore, C is B." For example, "All humans are mortal." "John is human." "Therefore, John is mortal." "Mortal" (B) is called the → major term; it occurs in the first premise and is the → predicate of the conclusion. "John" (C), the subject of the conclusion, is called the → minor term. "Human," which is common to both premises and is excluded from the conclusion, is called the → middle term. See also → Aristotelian forms. Syllogism is purely formal. It does not enrich knowledge, but gives a new presentation to what is already known. It is also possible to have a logically valid syllogism based on → absurd premises. For example, "All cats are mammals." "All cats are animals." "Therefore, all animals are mammals." Syllogism, representing the earliest branch of → formal logic, was developed in its original form by Aristotle in his Organon (Prior Analytics) about 350 BC.
See also: → bivalent logic, → polyvalent logic, → symbolic logic, → propositional logic, → first-order logic, → predicate logic, → syllogistic; → fuzzy logic.

M.E. silogisme, from O.Fr. silogisme, from L. syllogismus, from Gk. syllogismos "a syllogism," originally "inference, conclusion; computation, calculation," from syllogizesthai "bring together before the mind, compute, conclude," from assimilated form of → syn- "together" + logizesthai "to reason, to count," from logos "a reckoning, reason," → logic.

Bâhamšomârik, literally "reckoning together," from bâham "together," from bâ "with," → hypo-, + ham, → syn-, + šomâr present stem of šomârdan "to reckon, calculate, enumerate, account for," → count, + suffix -i.

The belief in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation (distinguished from → deism).
2) Belief in the existence of a god or gods (opposed to → atheism) (Dictionary.com).

From the- variant of theo- before a vowel, from Gk. theos "god," from PIE root *dhes-, root of words applied to various religious concepts, such as L. feriae "holidays," festus "festive," fanum "temple."

Yzadân-bâvari, from yazdân "god," from Mid.Pers. yazetân "gods," ultimately from Proto-Ir. *iaz- "to sacrifice, worship, venerate," → deity.

1) The practices and principles of a totalitarian regime.
2) Absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution (Dictionary.com).

→ totalitarian; → -ism.

The property of some crystals of exhibiting three different colors when viewed from three different directions under white lights. → dichroism.

From Gk. tri- "three" + chroic, from chroma "color" + -ism.

Sefâmi, from se, → three, + fâm "color," + -i noun suffix.

The doctrine whereby geologic processes (→ erosion, → deposition, → compaction, and → uplift) observed at Earth's surface now are the same that have shaped Earth's landscape over long periods of time in the past. The term uniformitarianism was first used in 1832 by William Whewell, to present an alternative explanation for the origin of the Earth. The prevailing view at that time was that the Earth was created through supernatural means and had been affected by a series of catastrophic events such as the biblical Flood. This theory is called → catastrophism. The ideas behind uniformitarianism originated with the work of Scottish geologist James Hutton. In 1785, Hutton presented at the meetings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh that the Earth had a long history and that this history could be interpreted in terms of processes currently observed. For example, he suggested that deep soil profiles were formed by the weathering of bedrock over thousands of years. He also suggested that supernatural theories were not needed to explain the geologic history of the Earth (PhysicalGeography.net).

→ uniformitarian; → -ism.