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

The seventh and the largest of → Neptune's satellites. It has a diameter of 2,700 km and orbits its planet at a mean distance of 354,760 km every 5.877 days. Triton was discovered by William Lassell in 1846 scarcely a month after Neptune was discovered. Triton is colder than any other measured object in the solar system with a surface temperature of -235° C. It has an extremely thin atmosphere. Nitrogen ice particles might form thin clouds a few kilometers above the surface. The atmospheric pressure at Triton's surface is about 15 microbars, 0.000015 times the sea-level surface pressure on Earth. Triton is the only large satellite in the solar system to circle a planet in a → retrograde motion, that is in a direction opposite to the rotation of the planet.

In Gk. mythology, Triton is a god of the sea, the son of Poseidon (Neptune); usually portrayed as having the head and trunk of a man and the tail of a fish.

1) Of very little importance or value; insignificant; commonplace; ordinary.
2a) Math.: A solution of an equation in which the value of every variable of the equation is equal to zero. For example, x² + 2y² = x + 3y has a trivial solution x = 0, y = 0.
2b) Of a theorem or proof: simple, transparent, or immediately evident.
Any theorem once a proof has been obtained, no matter how difficult the theorem was to prove in the beginning.
2c) For any natural number, the number itself and 1 which are called trivial divisors.
3) Chemistry: → trivial name.

From M.L. trivialis "found everywhere, commonplace; known by every body," from trivium literally "crossroad, a place where three roads meet," also "the lower division of the seven liberal arts taught in medieval universities, i.e. grammar, rhetoric, and logic," from tri-, → three, + via "road," since it was common in Roman Empire for three roads to meet.

Zab "easy, unbought, gratis; straight," variant zap, related to sabok "light, not heavy; unsteady;" Proto-Iranian *θrap-/tarp- "to be unsteady;" cf. Kurd. terpin "to stumble;" Pashto drabəl "to shake, press down;" Skt. trepa- "hasty;" Gk. trepein "to turn;" L. trepidus "agitated, anxious;" PIE *trep- "to shake, tremble."

Chemistry: A common name for a chemical compound derived from the natural source, or of historic origin, and not according to the systematic nomenclature. For example, the trivial name of sodium chloride is → salt.

→ trivial; → name.

The quality or state of being → trivial; something trivial.

→ trivial; → -ity;.

To make → trivial.

→ trivial; → -ize

A member of the family of asteroids that share → Jupiter's orbit and lie in elongated, curved regions around the two → Lagrangian points 60° ahead and behind of Jupiter. The Lagrangian points L4 and L5 host several thousands of them. Originally, the term Trojan applied only to asteroids sharing Jupiter's orbit; however, planetoidal bodies have been discovered at the Lagrangian points of Mars and Neptune as well, and are also referred to as → Mars Trojans and Neptune Trojans respectively.

M.E.; O.E. Troian, from Trojanus, from Troj(a) "Troy" + -anus; → asteroid.

Sayyârakhâ plural of sayyârak, → asteroid; Troâ-yi adj. of Troâ "Troy."

Either of the two parallels of latitude on Earth at which the Sun appears overhead at the → summer and → winter solstices each year: → Tropic of Cancer, → Tropic of Capricorn . The tropics lie at latitudes 23°26', north and south, an angle defined by the Earth's → axial inclination.

M.E., from L. tropicus, from Gk. tropikos "of or pertaining to a turn or change; of or pertaining to to the turn of the Sun's apparent motion at solstice," from trope "a turning."

Hurgard, literally "Sun's turning," from hur, → Sun, + gard "turning, changing," from gardidan "to turn, to change;" Mid.Pers. vartitan; Av. varət- "to turn, revolve;" Skt. vrt- "to turn, roll," vartate "it turns round, rolls;" L. vertere "to turn;" O.H.G. werden "to become;" PIE base *wer- "to turn, bend."

A parallel of latitude on the Earth, 23°26' north of the equator, where the Sun is directly overhead on the northern → summer solstice (around the 21st June each year), because the Sun reaches its most northerly declination. Some 3,000 years ago, this occurred when the Sun was in the → Zodiac constellation → Cancer, hence the name. However, → precession has resulted in a shift of the position of the Sun so that it is now in the constellation → Gemini on the summer solstice.

→ tropic; → Cancer.

A parallel of latitude on the Earth, 23°26' south of the equator, where the Sun is directly overhead on the southern → summer solstice (around the 21st December each year), because the Sun reaches its most southerly declination. Some 3,000 years ago, this occurred when Sun was in the → Zodiac constellation → Cancer, hence the name. However, → precession has resulted in a shift of the position of the Sun so that it is now in the constellation → Sagittarius on the northern → winter solstice.

→ tropic; → Capricorn.

1) Geography: Pertaining to, characteristic of, occurring in, or inhabiting the → tropics.
2) Astro.: A misnomer for → solar, as in → tropical year, or → vernal equinox, as in → tropical month.

→ tropic + → -al.

The average period of the revolution of the Moon about the Earth with respect to the → vernal equinox, a period of 27.321 582 days (27d 7h 43m 4.7s).

→ tropical; → month.

Mâh, → month; hamugâni, of or pertaining to hamugân, → equinox.

The interval during which the Sun's mean longitude, referred to the mean equinox of date, increases by 360 degrees. Its mean length for the epoch J2000.0 is 365.24217879 real solar days (approximately 365.2422 days). This concept of tropical year, adopted by the International Astronomical Union at its General Assembly in Dublin, September 1955, has often been confounded with the → vernal-equinox year. In fact the mean period between two successive true vernal equinoxes is different from the tropical year. This period, which is equal to 365.24236460 solar days (about 365.2424 days), is the real mean length of the year in the Iranian calendar. The difference between the two year lengths is due to the fact that the Earth's orbital velocity around the Sun is not uniform, since the orbit is an ellipse. At the perihelion of its orbit the Earth is closest to the Sun, and therefore moves faster than average, while at aphelion, when it is farthest away from the Sun, it moves slower. Therefore the interval between two successive vernal equinoxes is not the same as the period between two successive summer solstices. In fact the tropical year does not depend on a specific origin for the annual apparent motion of the Sun. For detailed discussion see: A concise review of the Iranian calendar.

→ tropical; → year.

A combining form meaning "turn, change."

From Gk. tropos "turn," trope "a turning," from trepein "to turn;" cognate with Pers. sabok and zab, → trivial.

Gašt "turning," past stem of gaštan, gardidan "to turn, to change" (Mid.Pers. vartitan; Av. varət- "to turn, revolve;" Skt. vrt- "to turn, roll," vartate "it turns round, rolls;" L. vertere "to turn;" O.H.G. werden "to become;" PIE base *wer- "to turn, bend").

The boundary between the → troposphere and → stratosphere. Its height, varying with latitude and seasons, is from 8 km at poles, to 18 km at equator; it is higher during winter time. The atmospheric temperature decreases from ground upward until the tropopause. Then it increases in stratosphere because of the absorption of solar ultraviolet radiation.

→ tropo- + pause "break, cessation, stop," from M.Fr. pause, from L. pausa "a halt, stop, cessation," from Gk. pausis "stopping, ceasing," from pauein "to stop, to cause to cease."

From gašt, → tropo-, + marz "frontier, border, boundary" (Mid.Pers. marz "boundary;" Av. marəza- "border, district," marəz- "to rub, wipe;" Mod.Pers. parmâs "contact, touching" (→ contact), mâl-, mâlidan "to rub;" PIE base *merg- "boundary, border;" cf. L. margo "edge" (Fr. marge "margin"); P.Gmc. *marko; Ger. Mark; E. mark, margin).

The lower part of the Earth's atmosphere in which temperature decreases with height, except for local areas of → temperature inversion.

→ tropo- + → sphere.

The ratio of the → molar heat of vaporization of any liquid to its → boiling point is a constant, about 88 joules per mole per Kelvin. The rule is equivalent to the statement that the → entropy of vaporization is constant. It is not always followed, especially by liquids such as water in which hydrogen bonding occurs between the molecules.

Named after Frederick Thomas Trouton (1863-1922), an Irish physicist; → rule.

An experiment first carried out in 1903 to reveal the absolute motion of the Earth with respect to the → ether. The experiment consists of detecting a torque on a charged parallel-plate → capacitor that was suspended so that its plates were vertical. Since the Earth moves around the Sun, the moving charges were expected to produce magnetic fields, and the resulting torque should tend to turn the capacitor bringing its plates parallel to its velocity. No such effect was observed, and the absence of the torque supports the theory of → special relativity.

Named after Frederick T. Trouton (1863-1922) and Henry R. Noble; → experiment.

A suspension of hostilities for a specified period of time by mutual agreement of the warring parties (Dictionary.com).

M.E. triws, trewes, originally plural of trewe "faith, treaty," from O.E. treow "faith, truth, fidelity; promise," cf. O.Frisian triuwe, M.Du. trouwe, Du. trouw, O.H.G. triuwa, Ger. treue "faith, faithfulness." The Germanic word was borrowed into L.L. as tregua, hence Fr. trève.

Nâpard, literally "not war," from negation prefix nâ-, → un-, + pard, variant of vard in prefixed nabard, âvard "fight, struggle," ultimately from Proto-Ir. *part- "to fight, struggle," cf. Av. pərət- "to fight, struggle."

Being in accordance with the actual state or conditions; e.g. → true anomaly; → true equinox; → true horizon; → true north; → true Sun.

M.E. trewe (adj. and adv.); O.E. triewe, treowe "trustworthy" (cf. O.Fris. triuwi, Du. getrouw, O.H.G. gatriuwu, Ger. treu, O.N. tryggr, Goth. triggws "faithful, trusty").

Râstin, from râst "right, true; just, upright, straight;" Mid.Pers. râst "true, straight, direct;" Soghdian rəšt "right;" O.Pers. rāsta- "straight, true," rās- "to be right, straight, true;" Av. rāz- "to direct, put in line, set," razan- "order;" cf. Skt. raj- "to direct, stretch," rjuyant- "walking straight;" Gk. orektos "stretched out;" L. regere "to lead straight, guide, rule," p.p. rectus "right, straight;" M.E.; O.E. reht, riht; cf. O.H.G. reht, Ger. recht, O.N. rettr, Goth. raihts; PIE base *reg- "move in a straight line," hence, "to direct, rule."

One of the standard → orbital elements, which is the angle measured at the → focus nearest the → periapsis of an elliptical orbit, between the periapsis and the → radius vector from the focus to the orbiting body.

→ true; → anomaly.