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

The body of the → planispheric astrolabe which is a thin circular plate, with a hole in the center. It has a thicker, raised, and graduated edge, called the → limb. The hollow of the mater holds the → tympanum and the rotating → rete. The upper part of the mater carries a jointed ring, called the → throne. By slipping one's thumb into the ring, one raises the instrument so that its weight and symmetrical design keeps it perpendicular to the ground. On the back of the mater are engraved several circular scales (online museo galileo, VirtualMuseum).

From L. mater, → mother.

1) (adj.) Formed or consisting of matter.
2) (n.) The substance or matter from which something is or can be made, or also items needed for doing or creating something.

From L.L. materialis (adj.) "of or belonging to matter," from L. materia, → matter, + → -al.

Mâdig, from mâd, mâddé, → matter, + -ig, → -ic.

Belief that physical matter is the only reality and that everything, including thought, feeling, mind, and will, can be explained in terms of matter and physical phenomena.

N.L. materialismus; → material + -ism.

Mâddebâvari, from mâddé, → matter, + 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 state or quality of being material.

→ material; → -ity.

The act or process of materializing.

Verbal noun of → materialize.

1a) To come into material form. To take shape.
1b) To form material particles from energy, as in → pair production.
2) To give material form to.

→ material; → -ize.

Of, relating to, or of the nature of mathematics.

→ mathematics; → -al.

Same as → mathematical elegance.

→ mathematical; → beauty.

A statement that one expects to be true, but for which one does not yet know a proof. Once the → proof is found, the conjecture becomes a → theorem.

→ mathematical; → conjecture.

A mathematical solution or demonstration when it yields a result in a surprising way (e.g., from apparently unrelated theorems), is short, and is based on fundamental concepts. According to Henri Poincaré, what gives the feeling of elegance "is the harmony of the different parts, their symmetry, and their happy adjustment; it is, in a word, all that introduces order, all that gives them unity, that enables us to obtain a clear comprehension of the whole as well as of the parts. ... Elegance may result from the feeling of surprise caused by the un-looked-for occurrence together of objects not habitually associated. ... Briefly stated, the sentiment of mathematical elegance is nothing but the satisfaction due to some conformity between the solution we wish to discover and the necessities of our mind" (Henri Poincaré, Science and Method, 1908). According to Bertrand Russell, "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty -- a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show" (Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, 1945).

→ mathematical; → elegance.

In probability and statistics, of a random variable, the summation or integration, over all values of the random variable, of the product of the value and its probability of occurrence. Also called → expectation, → expected value.

→ mathematical; → expectation.

An → abstract object dealt with in mathematics that has a definition, obeys certain properties, and can be the target of certain operations. It is often built out of other, already defined objects. Some examples are → numbers, → functions, → triangles, martices (→ matrix), → groups, and entities such as → vector spaces, and → infinite series.

→ mathematical; → object.

An expert or specialist in → mathematics.

M.E. mathematicion, from M.Fr. mathematicien, from mathematique, from L. mathematicus, → mathematics.

Mazdâhikdân, from mazdâhik, → mathematics, + -dân "knower," present stem of dânestan "to know," → science.

A broad-ranging field of knowledge dealing with the systematic treatment of magnitude, relationships between figures and forms, and relations between quantities expressed symbolically.

M.E. mathematic, from L. mathematica (ars), from Gk. mathematike (tekhne) "mathematical science," from mathema (gen. mathematos) "science, knowledge," (+ -ike, → -ics), related to manthein "to learn, to know" from PIE base *men- "to think," (cf. Av. mazdāh- "memory," as below, Lith. mandras "wide-awake," O.C.S. madru "wise, sage," Goth. mundonsis "to look at," Ger. munter "awake, lively").

Mazdâhik, from Av. mazdāh- "memory," mazdā- "wisdom," mazdāθa- "what must be borne in mind;" from PIE base *men- "to think," as above; cf. Skt. medhā- "mental power, wisdom, intelligence;" Gk. manthein, mathematike, as above.
Riyâzi, loan from Ar. riyâZî, riyâZîyat.

1) An orderly array of numbers, algebraic symbols, or mathematical functions, especially when such arrays are added and multiplied according to certain rule; e.g. → Jordan matrix.
2) The fine grained material found in between the → chondrules, fragments and metal grains found inside → stony meteorites.

From O.Fr. matrice, from L. matrix "female animal kept for breeding," in L.L. "womb, source, origin," from mater, → mother.

Mâtris, loan from Fr., as above.

The treatment of matrices whose entries are functions.

→ matrix; → calculus.

For a → square matrix whose → determinant is not zero, the unique matrix A^-1 satisfying the relation AA^-1 = A^-1A = I, where I is the → identity matrix.

→ matrix; → inverse.

1) Physical or corporeal substance in general, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, especially as distinguished from incorporeal substance, as spirit or mind, or from qualities, actions, and the like.
2) Whatever has size and shape, is solid and tangible, takes up space.
3) Anything that contains mass. → material.

M.E. mater(e), materie, from O.Fr. mat(i)ere, materie, from L. materia "substance from which something is made," also "hard inner wood of a tree," from mater, → mother, PIE base *mater-, see below.

Mâddé, variant mâyé "substance, essence; quantity, amount;" Mid.Pers. mâtak/mâdak "substance, the essential element of anything; materials" (Sogd. patmâδé "matter, substance"), from mât, mâd "mother; substance" (see E. matter, as above), from O.Pers./Av. mātar- "mother;" cf. Ossetic mad/madae "mother;" Khotanese mâta "mother;" Skt. mātár- "mother;" Gk. meter, mater; L. mater (Fr. mère, Sp. madre); O.E. môdor from P.Gmc. *mothær (O.S. modar, Dan. moder, Du. moeder, Ger. Mutter); Lith. mote "wife."
Note: Ar. mâddat is borrowed from Mid.Pers. mâdak, as above, and Arabicized through association with madda "to extend."

A critical change in the history of the Universe, which occurred after the radiation era, when the density of energy contained within matter exceeded the density of energy contained within radiation. This transition started about 5000 years after the Big Bang, when the temperature had fallen to 3 x 10⁴ K. Later, 380 000 years after the Big Bang, when the temperature was 3000 K, matter and radiation were no longer coupled together and the Universe became transparent.

→ matter; → era.

A Universe in which the matter energy density (Ω_m ≈ 1) provides most of the total energy density. According to the → Big Bang model, in the early history of the → Universe a → radiation-dominated phase preceded the matter-dominated phase. This phase is characterized by R/R₀ ∝ t^2/3, where R is the → cosmic scale factor and t is time.

→ matter; → dominate; → Universe.