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

A blue → giant star in the constellation → Ursa Minor, also known as HR 5735, HD 137422, HIP 75097, BD+72°79, and SAO 8220. It has an → apparent visual magnitude of +3.0, → color indices of B -V = +0.09, U - B = +0.08, and a → spectral type of A2 III. Pherkad has a → luminosity of 1,100 Lsun, a radius of 15 Rsun, and a → surface temperature of 8,200 K. It lies 487 → light-years away from Earth.

From Ar. Al-Farqad (الفرقد) "calf."

A correlation between the peak brightness of → Type Ia supernovae and the decline rate of their → light curve (15 days after the maximum). The decline rate is also correlated to the width of the peak brightness of the supernova. The brightest events are the broadest in time and brighter SNe Ia decline more slowly than dimmer ones. Applying the Phillips relation reduces the dispersion in the light curves of Type Ia SNe thus making them precise distance indicators which can be observed over large distances.

Named after Mark M. Phillips (1951-), American astronomer (Phillips et al. 1993, ApJ 413, L105); → relation.

A person who engages in → philosophy.

M.E., from O.E. philosophe, from L. philosophus "philosopher," from Gk. philosophos "philosopher, sage," literally "lover of wisdom," → philosophy; the agent noun ending -er appears in early 14th century from an Anglo-French or O.Fr. variant of philosophe.

Filsuf, from Ar., from Gk., as above. Falsafedân, literally "philosophy knower," with -dân present stem of dânestan "to know," → science.

To explain or argue in terms of philosophical speculations or theories.

→ philosophy; → -ize.

A conceptual study that attempts to understand reality and answer fundamental questions about knowledge, existence, life, morality, and human nature. Philosophy deals with issues that generally are not subject to investigation through experimental verification. It focuses on questions which cannot be answered by means of observation alone. See also → philosophy of science.

From O.Fr. filosofie "philosophy, knowledge," from L. philosophia, from Gk. philosophia "love of wisdom," from philo- "loving" combining form of philos "dear; friend," from philein  "to love," of unknown origin, +  sophia "knowledge, wisdom," from sophis "wise, learned;" of unknown origin.

Falsafé, from Ar. falsafah, loan from Gk. philosophia, as above.

The critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of  knowledge. The philosophy of science is particularly concerned with the nature of scientific facts, the structure of scientific statements, and relations between them.

→ philosophy; → science.

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.

The inner → satellite of → Mars orbiting less than 6,000 km above the surface of Mars, closer to its → primary than any other → moon in the → solar system. Phobos is irregularly shaped, 27 x 22 x 18 km in size and orbits Mars in 0.319 days. Phobos' orbit is decaying at a rate of about 2 centimeters per year; it is therefore expected to break up and crash onto Mars within the next 50 million years. See also: → Roche limit, → orbit decay.

In Gk. mythology, Phobos is one of the sons of Ares (Mars) and Aphrodite (Venus). The name means "fear, panic, flight."

The outermost of Saturn's known satellites, also known as Saturn IX. It is 220 km in diameter and orbits Saturn in 550.5 days at a distance of 12,952,000 km.

In Gk. mythology, Phoebe is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia; grandmother of Apollo and Artemis.

A giant ring around Saturn spanning an area of space from a distance of ~ 128 Saturn equatorial radii, R_S (60,330 km) to 207 R_S, that is, from about 7.7 × 10⁶ to 12.4 × 10⁶ km from the planet. Its vertical thickness is about 40 R_S. The Phoebe ring was detected in 2009 using NASA's infrared → Spitzer Space Telescope. The Phoebe ring is made up mainly of dust particles about 10 to 20 microns in size, or about one-tenth to one-fifth the average width of a human hair. Rocks that are the size of soccer balls or larger with diameters of more than about 20 cm make up no more than about 10 percent of the ring (Verbiscer et al., 2009, Nature, 461, 1098).

→ Phoebe; → ring.

A constellation in the southern hemisphere, at 0h 30m → right ascension, 50° south → declination. Its brightest star Alpha Phoenicis is of magnitude 2.4. Abbreviation: Phe; genitive: Phoenicis.

L. Phoenix, also phenix, from Gk. phoinix a mythical bird of great beauty which according to one account lived 500 years, burned itself to ashes on a pyre, and rose alive from the ashes to live another period.

Qoqnos, from Ar., from Gk., as above, or, for some reasons (mistake?), from Gk. kuknos, → Cygnus.

A speech sound considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the sound system of a language.

From Gk. phone "voice, sound," phonein "to speak;" cf. L. fama "talk, reputation, fame."

Âva "voice, sound," related to âvâz "voice, sound, song" (both prefixed forms), bâng "voice, sound, clamour" (Mid.Pers. vâng), vâžé "word," variants vâj-, vâk-, vâ-, vâz-, vât-; Av. vacah- "word," vaocanghê "to decalre" (by means of speech), from vac- "to speak, say;" cf. Skt. vakti "speaks, says," vacas- "word;" Gk. epos "word;" L. vox "voice;" PIE base *wek- "to speak."

The smallest phonetic unit in a language that can distinguish one word from another.

From Fr. phonème, from Gk. phonema "speech sound, utterance," from phonein "to sound," → phone.

Vâj "voice," variant of vâž, vâz-, âvâz etc., → phone.

A branch of linguistics dealing with the analysis, description, and classification of speech sounds. More specifically, phonetics deals with the physical production of → phonemes regardless of language, while → phonology studies how those sounds are put together to create meaningful words in a particular language.

From phonetic, from N.L. phoneticus, from Gk. phonetikos "vocal," from phonet(os) "utterable," verbal adj. of phonein "to speak clearly, utter," from → phone + -ikos, → -ics.

Âvâyik, from âvâ, → phone, + -ik, → -ics.

The branch of medical science dealing with the study and treatment of voice disorders.

From Gk. phon-, → phone; → -iatrics.

A combining form meaning "sound, voice," used in the formation of compound words. Also phon-, especially before a vowel.

From Gk. phon-, phono-, form → phone "voice, sound, speech"

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.

A quantum of vibrational or acoustic energy in a crystal lattice, being the analog of a photon of electromagnetic energy.

→ phono- + → -on.

A colorless, flammable, and explosive gas at ambient temperature with unpleasant smell of rotten fish or garlic. Named also hydride of phosphorus (PH₃), it is highly poisonous in nature. On cooling to 185.5 K, phosphine condenses to a liquid and on cooling to 139.5 K, it solidifies. By heating in the absence of air at 713 K or by passing an electric spark through it, phosphine breaks into its elements. Small amounts occur naturally from the break down of organic matter. It is heavier than air and slightly soluble in water. Phosphine is used in semiconductor and plastics industries, in the production of a flame retardant, and as a pesticide in stored grain. Phosphine has two strong absorption bands in → infrared at 10 and 9 μm.

From phosph-, variant of phospho-, denoting → phosphorus, used before a vowel + suffix -ine, ultimately from L. -inus, used to form names of chemical substances, especially basic (alkaline) substances, alkaloidal substances, or halogen elements.