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

The logarithm in which the → base is the → irrational number e = 2.718281828.... Also called → Napierian logarithm. The natural logarithm is denoted ln, an abbreviation of logarithmus naturalis. Natural logarithms are related to → common logarithms through: ln x = (1/M) log x, with M = (1/ln 10) ≅ 0.434294.

→ natural; → logarithm.

The branch of meteorology that deals with clouds.

From Gk. nephos "cloud," nephele "cloud;" cognate with Pers. nam "moisture;" Av. napta- "moist," nabās-cā- "cloud," nabah- "sky;" L. nebula "mist," nimbus "rainstorm, rain cloud;" Skt. nábhas- "moisture, cloud, mist;" O.H.G. nebul; Ger. Nebel "fog;" O.E. nifol "dark;" PIE base *nebh- "cloud, vapor, fog, moist, sky" + → -logy.

Abršenâsi, from abr "cloud," from Mid.Pers. awr, abr (Laki owr, Baluchi haur, Kurd. Soriani hewr); Av. awra- "rain cloud, rain;" cf. Skt. abhra-"thunder cloud;" Gk. afros "scum, foam;" L. imber "rain;" also Sk. ambha- "water;" Gk. ombros "rain," PIE *mbhros "rain cloud, rain," from *mbh- + -šenâsi→ -logy.

A catalogue of 7,840 non-stellar objects compiled by J. L. E. Dreyer and published in 1888. A further 1,529 objects were listed in a supplement that appeared seven years later, called the → Index Catalogue (IC). The Second Index Catalogue of 1908 extended the supplementary list to 5,386 objects.

→ new; → general; → catalog

The use of → Newtonian mechanics to derive homogeneous and isotropic solutions of → Einstein's field equations, which represent models of expanding Universe. The Newtonian cosmology deviates from the prediction of → general relativity in the general case of anisotropic and inhomogeneous models.

→ Newtonian; → cosmology.

Science of → snow.

From Fr. nivologie, from niveus "snow; snowy," → snow, + -logie, → -logy.

Barfšenâsi, frp barf, → snow, + -šenâsi, → -logy.

The application of observational data to the study of the Universe as a whole.

→ observational; → cosmology.

The science of → wines. Same as enology.

From Gk. oeno-, from oinos cognate with → wine.

Bâdešenâsi, from bâdé, bâda "wine," from Mid.Pers. bâtak "wine," + -šenâsi, → -logy.

1) Classical philosophy: That part of metaphysics which is concerned with the nature of existence or the essence of things.
2) Contemporary philosophy: The conceptions of existence in general, such as those dealt with in various versions of existentialism.
3) Informatics: A description of knowledge as a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships that can exist between those concepts. An ontology is designed for the purpose of enabling knowledge sharing and reuse.

From Mod.L. ontologia, from Gk. on (genitive ontos) "being" (pr.p. of einai "to be"), akin to L. esse "to be;" Pers. hastan, astan "to be," hasti "existence, being," as below; + -logia, → -logy.

Hasti-šenâsi, from hasti "existence," from hastan "to be," → entity, + -šenâsi, → -logy.

A class of molecules that contain at least one → halogen atom bonded to → carbon. Organohalogens are abundant on the Earth where they are mainly produced through industrial and biological processes. They have been proposed as → biomarkers in the search for life on → exoplanets. Simple halogen hydrides have been detected in → interstellar medium sources and in → comets. → Methyl chloride (CH₃Cl), the most abundant organohalogen in the Earth's atmosphere, has both → natural and → synthetic production pathways (Fayolle et al., 2017, Nature Astronomy 1, 703).

From organo-, → organ, + → halogen.

The study of past → climates throughout → geologic and → historic time (paleoclimates), and the causes of their variations.

→ paleo-; → climatology.

The study of ancient life through → fossils.

From Fr. paléontologie, from paléo-, → paleo-, + onto-, from Gk. ont- "being," pr.p. of einai "to be," + → -logy.

Pârin-šenâsi, from pârin-, → paleo- + šenâsi, → -logy.

A four-sided → polygon whose opposite sides are parallel. A parallelogram all of whose angles are right angles is a → rectangle.

From Fr. parallélogramme, from L. parallelogrammum, from Gk. parallelogrammon "bounded by parallel lines," from parallelos, → parallel, + gramme "line," related to graphein "to write, draw" → -graph.

Parâsubar, from parâsu, → parallel, + bar, → side.

A catalog of stars in the → Orion Nebula created by P. P. Parenago in 1954 (Publ. Astr. Inst. Sternberg, Band 25, p. 393-437, Moskau).

Pavel Petrovich Parenago (1906-1960), a Soviet astronomer.

The → assumption, adopted by the → steady-state theory, that all observers, everywhere at all times, would view the same large-scale distribution of matter in the → Universe in all regions and in every direction. In contrast to the → cosmological principle, the perfect cosmological principle adds the assumption that the Universe does not change with time on the large scale.

→ perfect; → cosmological; → principle.

The branch of → geology that deals with → rocks: their classification, composition, structure, occurrence, and conditions of origin.

→ petro-; → -logy

The study of the biological recurring phenomena in plants and animals (such as blossoming, hibernation, reproduction, and migration) and of their relation to changes in season and climate.

From L. phaeno-, from Gk. phaino-, from phainein "bring to light, cause to appear, show," from PIE root *bha- "to shine" + → -logy.

Zistcarxe-šenâsi, literally study of "life cycle," from zistcarxe "life cycle," from zist, → bio-, + carxe, → cycle, + -šenâsi, → -logy.

A hypothetical substance that, prior to the discovery of → oxygen, was thought to be released during → combustion. → phlogiston theory.

From New Latin, from Gk. phlogiston, neuter of phlogistos "inflammable, burnt up," from phlogizein "to set on fire, burn," from phlox "flame, blaze;" from PIE root *bhel- "to shine, burn."

Fložiston, loan from Fr, as above.

An obsolete theory of combustion in which all flammable objects were supposed to contain a substance called → phlogiston, which was released when the object burned. The existence of this hypothetical substance was proposed in 1669 by Johann Becher, who called it terra pinguis "fat earth." For example, as wood burns it releases phlogiston into the air, leaving ash behind. Ash was therefore wood minus phlogiston. In the early 18th century Georg Stahl renamed the substance phlogiston. The theory was disproved by Antoine Lavoisier in 1783, who proved the principle of conservation of mass, refuted the phlogiston theory and proposed the oxygen theory of burning.

→ phlogiston; → theory.

A branch of linguistics that studies the rules in any given language that govern how → phonemes are combined to create meaningful words. Phonology and → phonetics study two different aspects of sound, but the concepts are dependent on each other in the creation of language.

→ phono-; → -logy.

Same as → planetary science.

→ planet; + → -logy.