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

A combining form meaning "complete, entire, total, whole," used in the formation of compound words: → holonomic, → holography, holomorphic.

From M.E. holo-, from O.fr., from L. hol-, holo-, from Gk. holos "whole," akin to Pers. har- "every, all, each, any," as below.

Haru, from Mid.Pers. har(v) "all, each, every" (Mod.Pers. har "every, all, each, any"); O.Pers. haruva- "whole, all together;" Av. hauruua- "whole, at all, undamaged;" cf. Skt. sárva- "whole, all, every, undivided;" Gk. holos "whole, complete;" L. salvus "whole, safe, healthy," sollus "whole, entire, unbroken;" PIE base *sol- "whole."

1) A great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.
2) (usually initial capital letter, preceded by the) The systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II (Dictionary.com).

M.E., from L.L. holocaustum, from Gk. holokaustos "burnt whole;" see → holo- "complete, entire, total," → caustic "burning; burnt."

Harusuc "entirely burnt;" → holo-, → caustic "burning; burnt."

A three-dimensional image produced with the technique of → holography.

→ holo-; → -gram.

Of, relating to, or produced using → holography; three-dimensional.

→ holo- + → -graphic.

A → diffraction grating produced from a series of constructive → interference fringes. The fringes, whose intensities vary in a sinusoidal pattern, correspond to the grooves of the grating. They are recorded on a photosensitive substrate and subsequently treated using a chemical procedure. Since the grooves are created by the interference of light, such a grating is free from the random and periodic errors present in → ruled gratings.

→ holographic; → grating.

A technique for making three-dimensional images by recording → interference patterns from a split → laser beam on a medium such as photographic film. One of the → coherent beams irradiates the object, the second beam illuminates a recording medium. The two beams produce an interference pattern, called → hologram, on the film. The hologram contains information on both → phase and → amplitude of the object. However, this information is in a coded form, and the image must be reconstructed. When the object is removed and the hologram is illuminated by the laser from the original direction, a 3-dimensional image of the object appears where the object was originally, as if it were not removed. The visible object seems so real that the observer can detect → parallax by changing the position of one's head.

From → holo- "whole" + → -graphy. By using the term holography, Dennis Gabor (1900-1979), the Hungarian-British electrical engineer and inventor, wanted to stress that the technique records complete information about a wave, both about its amplitude and its phase, in contrast to the usual photography in which only the distribution of the amplitude is recorded.

A material system in which the → constraints can be expressed in the form of an equation relating the coordinates.

From Gk. → holo- "whole" + -nomic, related to nomos "law, managing, governing, custom," → -nomy; → system.

Of or relating to → morphology. Same as morphological

→ morphology; → -ic.

Of or relating to → morphology. Same as morphological

→ morphologic; → -al.

A classification scheme of galaxies based on their apparent shape. → Hubble classification.

→ morphological; → classification.

1) The study of the form or → structure of anything.
2) The → form and structure of a whole entity under study.
3) Linguistics: The structure of → words in a → language, including patterns of → inflections and → derivation. The study and description of such structures.

From Gk. morphe "form, shape, outward appearance" + → -logy.

Rixt "shape, the way something is cast, as in founding," past stem of rixtan "to cast; to pour; to flow" (Mid.Pers. rēxtan and rēcitan "to flow;" Av. raēk- "to leave, set free; to yield, transfer," infinitive *ricyā; Mod.Pers; rig in morderig "heritage" (literally, "left by the dead"); cf. Skt. rinakti "he leaves," riti- "stream; motion, course;" L. rivus "stream, brook;" Old Church Slavic rēka "river;" Rus. reka "river;" Goth. rinnan "run, flow," rinno "brook;" O.E. ridh "stream." šenâsi, → -logy.

An observationally determined relationship between the → morphological classification of galaxies and the → environments in which they are located. Specifically, the morphology-density relation indicates that early-type galaxies (→ ETG) are preferentially located in high density environments, whereas late-type galaxies (→ LTG) are preferentially found in low density environments. Hence, spiral galaxies are rare in the high densities of clusters and are common in the lower density group environments. Early-type galaxies, on the other hand, are common in clusters and are rarely found in isolation.

→ morphology; → density; → relation.

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 mechanical system with constraints on their velocity that are not derivable from position constraints. Nonholonomic systems arise, for instance, in mechanical systems that have rolling contact (for example, the rolling of wheels without slipping) or certain kinds of sliding contact (such as the sliding of skates). They are a remarkable generalization of classical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems in which one allows position constraints only.

→ non-; → holonomic; → system.