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

Meteo.: The process by which a layer of ice builds up on solid objects that are exposed to freezing precipitation or to supercooled fog or cloud droplets.

→ ice; → accretion.

A major interval of geologic time during which extensive ice sheets (continental → glaciers) formed over many parts of the world. There have been at least five significant ice ages in Earth's history, with approximately a dozen epochs of glacial expansion occurring in the past 1 million years. The last one ran from about 75,000 to 15,000 years ago.

→ ice; → age.

A tiny particle of ice within which → water molecules are all lined up in a precise → crystalline structure. Ice crystals come in various shapes including needles, → dendrites, hexagonal columns, and → platelet. If the temperature decreases the water molecules can crystallize, arranging themselves around the suspended impurities such as dust particles. See also → snow crystal.

→ ice; → crystal.

A member of the lesser mass group of → gas giants. Ice giants contain a higher quantity of materials that form ices at low temperatures, such as → water, → methane, and → ammonia. There are two ice giants in the Solar System, → Uranus and → Neptune.

→ ice; → giant.

A building for storing ice throughout the year, mainly used prior to the invention of the refrigerator.

→ ice; → house.

Yaxcâl, literally "a pit of ice," but "any place or vessel in which ice is kept," from yax, → ice, + câl "pit, → hole."

The temperature at which a mixture of air-saturated pure water and pure ice may exist in equilibrium at a pressure of one standard atmosphere.

→ ice; → point.

A large mass of floating or stranded ice that has broken away from a glacier; usually more than 5 m above sea level.

Iceberg, half Anglicization, half adoption of Du. ijsberg "ice mountain," from ijs, → ice, + berg "mountain" (cf. Ger. Eisberg, Sw. isberg), from P.Gmc. *bergaz; cf. M.H.G. berc, O.H.G. berg "mountain;" cognate with Pers. boland, borz, berg, as below; PIE base *bheregh- "high, elevated."

Yaxberg, from yax, → ice, + berg "mountain, hill," in Laki dialect, related to Pers. boland "high," variants bâlâ "up, above, high, elevated, height," borz "height, magnitude" (it occurs also in the name of the mountain chain Alborz), Laki dialect berg "hill, mountain;" Mid.Pers. buland "high;" O.Pers. baršan- "height;" Av. barəz- "high, mount," barezan- "height;" cf. Skt. bhrant- "high;" L. fortis "strong" (Fr. & E. force); O.E. burg, burh "castle, fortified place," from P.Gmc. *burgs "fortress;" Ger. Burg "castle," Goth. baurgs "city," E. burg, borough, Fr. bourgeois, bourgeoisie, faubourg); PIE base *bhergh- "high."

1) An image; a representation.
2) A representation or picture of a sacred or sanctified Christian personage, traditionally used and venerated in the Eastern Church.
3) A person or thing regarded as a symbol of a belief, nation, community, or cultural movement.
4) Computers: A pictorial representation of a facility available on a computer system, that enables the facility to be activated by means of a screen cursor rather than by a textual instruction (TheFreeDictionary.com).

From Gk. eikon "likeness, image, portrait; a semblance;" in philosophy, "an image in the mind," related to eikenai "be like, look like," from PIE *weik- "to be like."

Zodiš, variant of Mid.Pers. uzdês "icon; image; idol," from uz-, → ex-, + dês, Av. daēs- "to show;" cognate with Gk. deiknumai "to show;" L. dicere "to utter, say, proclaim;" N.H.G. zeigen "to say;" O.E. têon "to annoince;" PIE *deik- "to show, point out; announce."

Made of, covered with, or containing → ice.

→ ice + an English suffix of adjectives denoting "characterized by or inclined to."

A thought, conception, or notion existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity. See also → thought, → concept.

Idea, from L. idea "idea," pre-Platonic Gk. idea "form, semblance, nature, fashion," in Plato "a timeless, universal archetype of existents; ideal prototype," literally "look, form," from idein "to see," from PIE *wid-es-ya-, suffixed form of base *weid- "to know, to see;" cf. Pers. bin- "to see" (present stem of didan); Mid.Pers. wyn-; O.Pers. vain- "to see;" Av. vaēn- "to see;" Skt. veda "I know."

Miné "idea," related to Pers. maneš "disposition, temperament, greatness of soul," minu "heaven, paradise," also equivalent to Ger. Geist in recent philosophical translations, došman "enemy," pašimân "penitent, regretful," pežmân "sad, mournful," šâdmân "joyful, cheerful, pleased," ârmân "desire; → ideal;" dialectal (Šuštar) mana "(he) thinks, imagines," (Tarq-e Natanz) môna "to imagine, suppose;" Mid.Pers. mênidan "to think, consider," mên "thought, idea," mênišn "thought, thinking, mind, disposition," mênitâr "thinker," mênôg "spiritual, immaterial, heavenly," from Av. man- "to think," mainyeite "he thinks," manah- "mind, thinking, thought; purpose, intention," mainyu- "mind, mentality, mental force, inspiration," traditionally translated as "spirit," Angra Mainyu "hostile mentality" (Mod.Pers. Ahriman); O.Pers. maniyaiy "I think," Ardumaniš- (proper noun) "upright-minded," Haxāmaniš- (proper noun, Hellenized Achaemenes, founder of the Achaemenian dynasty) "having the mind of a friend;" cf. Sogdian mân "mind;" Skt. man- "to think," mánye "I think," manyate "he thinks," mánas- "intelligence, understanding, conscience;" Gk. mainomai "to be angry," mania "madness," mantis "one who divines, prophet;" L. mens "mind, understanding, reason," memini "I remember," mentio "remembrance;" Lith. mintis "thought, idea;" Goth. muns "thought," munan "to think;" Ger. Minne "love," originally "loving memory;" O.E. gemynd "memory, thinking, intention;" PIE base *men- "to think, mind; spiritual activity."

1) (n.) A standard of perfection, beauty, or excellence.
Math.: A subset of a ring that is closed under addition and multiplication by any element of the ring.
2) (adj.) Existing only in the imagination; not real or actual.
Conforming exactly to an ideal, law, or standard; perfect. → ideal gas.

M.E. ydeall, from L.L. idealis "existing in idea," from L. → idea.

Ârmân "ideal" in Mod.Pers., traditionally "desire; hope; grief," variants armân, urmân, prefixed from mân, "thought, mind," → idea. The first element may be related to Av. armaē- "in peace, still; quietly;" PIE base *er[ə]- "to be still" (cf. Skt. īrmā (adv.) "quiet, still, being in the same place;" Gk. erôé "calm, peace;" O.H.G. rouwa "rest"), as in Av. armaē.šad- "sitting quietly," armaē.štā- "standing still, stagnant." Therefore, Pers. ârmân may be related to Av. *armaē.manah- (PIE *ermen-) "thought in peace, quiet mind."
Mineyi, minevâr, adj. from miné, → idea.

An fluid which has no internal friction or → viscosity, and no → resistivity as well if the fluid is a plasma.

→ ideal; → fluid.

Theoretical gas assumed to consist of perfectly elastic molecules of negligible volume and mutual attraction force. Also called → perfect gas.

→ ideal; → gas.

An → equation of state that relates pressure (P), temperature (T), and volume (V) of an ideal or → perfect gas: PV = nRT, where n is the number of → moles of gas present and R is the → universal gas constant. Equivalently: PV = NkT, where N is the number of atoms of gas present and k is → Boltzmann's constant.

→ ideal; → gas; → law.

Magnetohydrodynamics of a → plasma with very large (infinite) → conductivity. In this condition, → Ohm's law reduces to E = -v × B, where E represents → electric field, B → magnetic field, and v the → fluid velocity. Ideal MHD is the simplest model to describe the dynamics of plasmas immersed in a magnetic field. It is concerned with → one-fluid magnetohydrodynamics and neglects → resistivity. This theory treats the plasma composed of many charged particles with locally neutral charge as a continuous single → fluid. Ideal MHD does not provide information on the velocity distribution and neglects the physics relating to wave-particle interactions, as does the two-fluid theory as well. It does have the advantage that the macroscopic dynamics of the → magnetized plasma can be analyzed in realistic three-dimensional geometries (K. Nishikawa & M. Wakatani, 2000, Plasma Physics, Springer). See also → non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics.

→ ideal; → magnetohydrodynamics.

Any one of a variety of systems of philosophical thought, which would make the ultimate reality of the Universe expressible or intangible only in terms of idea in mind, rather than in terms of matter in space.

From → ideal, see also → idea, + → -ism.

Similar or alike in every way; being the very same; agreeing exactly.

From M.L. identicus "the same," from L.L. identitas "identity," from idem "the same," from id "it, that one" + demonstrative suffix -dem.

Yeksân "the same, similar," from yek, → one, + -sân "manner, semblance" (variant sun, Mid.Pers. sân "manner, kind," Sogdian šôné "career").
Hamidân, from Mid.Pers. hamêtôn "identical."

1) An act or instance of identifying; the state of being identified.
2) Psychology: The process of associating the self closely with other persons and assuming their characteristics or views unconsciously or partially so.
3) In psychological theories, a phase of recognition, the way in which the child's personality is formed by modeling it on a chosen parent.

Verbal noun of → identify.

Idâneš, verbal noun of idânidan→ identify.

Recognizing the lines in the spectrum of a star, nebula, galaxy, etc. using a calibration template.

→ identification; → line.

Computers: 1) One or more characters used to identify, name, or characterize the nature, properties, or contents of a set of data elements.
2) A string of bits or characters that names an entity, such as a program, device, or system, in order that other entities can call that entity.
3) In programming languages, a lexical unit that names a language object, such as a variable, array, record, label, or procedure.

Agent noun of → identify.