planetarium 1) âsmânnemâ; 2) âsmânxâné (#) Fr.: planétarium 1) A device that produces a representation of the heavens by the use of a number of
moving projectors. From → planet + -arium "a place for." Âsmânnemâ, literally "sky displayer," from
âsmân "sky" (Mid.Pers. âsmân "sky, heaven;"
O.Pers. asman-
"heaven;" Av. asman- "stone, sling-stone; heaven;" cf. Skt. áśman-
"stone, rock, thunderbolt;" Gk. akmon "heaven, meteor, anvil;" Akmon
was the father of Ouranos (Uranus), god of sky; Lith. akmuo "stone;" Rus. kamen;
PIE base *akmon- "stone, sky."
The link between the "stone" and "sky" concepts indicates that the sky had once been conceived
as a stone vault by prehistoric Indo-Europeans) +
nemâ "displayer," from
nemudan "to show" (Mid.Pers. nimūdan, nimây-
"to show," from O.Pers./Av. ni- "down; into"
(Skt. ni "down," nitaram "downward," Gk. neiothen "from below,"
cf. E. nether, O.E. niþera, neoþera "down, downward, below, beneath," from
P.Gmc. *nitheraz,
Du. neder, Ger. nieder; PIE *ni- "down, below") + māy-
"to measure;" cf. Skt. mati "measures," matra- "measure;"
Gk. metron "measure;" L. metrum;
PIE base *me- "to measure"). |