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

Not typical, usual, or regular; not normal; deviant. → anomalous, → anomaly.

M.L. anormalis, blend of L.L. abnormis "deviating from a rule," from ab- "off, away from" + L. norma "rule."

Bihanjâr, from Pers. bi- "without" + Pers. hanjâr "rule, habit, law, staright road."

A → probability distribution in which the natural logarithm (logX) of the → random variable (X) has a → Gaussian distribution.

→ logarithm; → normal distribution.

General: A standard, model, or pattern regarded as typical.
Math.: 1) The magnitude of a vector expressed as the square root of the sum of the squares of the absolute values of the components of the vector.
2) The value that has the highest frequency within a statistical range.

From Fr. norme, from O.Fr., from L. norma "carpenter's square, rule, pattern," of unknown origin.

Hanjâr "a straight road; way, rule, law; habit, custom; conduct; a mason's rule, a plumb-line, a level;" Mid.Pers. hanjâr "right, correct;" from Proto-Iranian *ham-cara-, *han-cara- prefixed *cara- "to move, walk" (cf. Av. car- "to move, go, walk," carāni "I would go," carāt "he would go;" Mod.Pers. caridan "to graze," gozârdan "to explain," gozâreš "explanation"); cf. Skt. samcara- "passage, way, road, path; going about, moving," from prefix sam- + cara- "moving, going, walking;" Gk. pelomai "to move;" L. colere "to till, cultivate, inhabit."

The Carpenter's Square. A small and inconspicuous southern constellation which lies between → Scorpius and → Centaurus. Its brightest star is only of magnitude 4.0. Abbreviation: Nor; genitive: Normae

Initially Norma et Regula, L. translation of l'Équerre et la Règle "the Set Square and the Ruler," as named by Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713-1762).

Guniyâ "carpenter's square," probably related to konj "angle, corner, confined place" (variants xong "corner, angle," Tabari kânj, Kurd. kunj, Hamadâni kom) and zânu "knee" (Av. žnu-), Skt. kona- "angle, corner," Gk. gonia "angle,", gony "knee," L. genu "knee," cuneus "a wedge," Albanian (Gheg dialect) kân "angle, corner," Albanian (Toks) kënd "angle, corner;" PIE base PIE base *g(e)neu-.

1) Conforming to the usual standard, type, custom; not abnormal; regular; natural.
2a) Math.: A perpendicular, particularly a line perpendicular to the tangent of a curve or curved surface at the point of contact of the tangent with the curve or the curved surface. See also → perpendicular; → vertical.
2b) Optics: A line drawn perpendicular to the surface of a reflecting or refracting medium.

From L.L. normalis "standing at right angle, in conformity with rule," from L. normalis "made according to a carpenter's square," from norma "rule, pattern," literally "carpenter's square."

Hanjârvar, hanjârmand, adjectives of hanjâr, → norm.

The dispersion in which a shorter wavelength is associated with a higher → refractive index. Contrasted with the → anomalous dispersion.

→ normal; → dispersion.

A theoretical frequency distribution for a set of variable data, usually represented by a bell-shaped curve with a mean at the center of the curve and tail widths proportional to the standard deviation of the data about the mean. Same as → Gaussian distribution.

→ normal; → distribution.

Of an atom, the same as → ground state.

→ normal; → state.

General: The fact or condition of being normal.
Chemistry: Measure of the number of gram-equivalent weights of a compound per liter of solution.

From → normal + → -ity.

1) A mathematical technique for adjusting a series of values (typically representing a set of measurements) according to some transformation function in order to make them comparable with some specific point of reference.
2) Process of introducing a numerical factor into an equation so that the area under the corresponding graph (if finite) shall be made equal to unity.
3) To change in scale so that the sum of squares or the integral of squares of the transformed quantity is zero.

Verbal noun of → normalize.

To change in scale so that the sum of squares, or the integral of the square, of the transformed quantity is unity.

→ normal + → -ize.

The quality of something that has undergone → normalization.

P.p. of → normalize.

A dimensionless parameter expressed by h(z) = H(z)/H₀, where H(z) is the → Hubble parameter at → redshift z and H₀ is the → Hubble constant.

→ normalized; → Hubble; → parameter.

Two non-zero vectors that are → orthogonal and have magnitude 1.

→ orthogonal; → vector.

A mathematical process used in quantum physics that avoids infinite terms by carefully defining fundamental quantities such as mass and charge.

→ re-; → normalization.