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

A first step in making a telescope mirror, which consists of rubbing the glass blank with hard tools (glass, tile, or metal) and abrasive grit to produce a concave form. → figuring; → polishing.

Grinding, verbal noun of grind, from O.E. grindan, forgrindan "destroy by crushing," from P.Gmc. *grindanan (cf. Du. grenden), from PIE *ghrendh- "crushing" (cf. L. frendere "to crush, grind;" Gk. khondros "granule, groats").

Sâbeš, verbal noun of sâbidan, variants sâyidan, pasâvidan "to touch" (Khotanese sauy- "to rub;" Sogdian ps'w- "to touch;" Proto-Iranian *sau- "to rub").

A minor → complaint.

M.E. gripen, from O.E. gripan; cognate with Du. grijpen, Ger. griefen.

Gelé, → complain.

An optical dispersing device used in a spectrograph. It is a combination of a prism and a grating, in the sense that the grating is placed side by side to one surface of a small-angle prism.

Grism, from gr(ating) + (pr)ism.

Abrasive particles or granules, classified into predetermined sizes, typically of Silicon Carbide or Aluminum Oxide, used between the mirror and tile tool to grind the glass.

Grit, from O.E. greot "sand, dust, earth, gravel," from P.Gmc. *greutan "tiny particles of crushed rock" (cf. O.S. griot; O.N. grjot "rock, stone;" Ger. Grieß "grit, sand"); PIE base *ghreu- "to rub, pound, crush."

Šen "sand, grit."

Anatomy: The depression on either side of the front of the body between the thigh and the abdomen.

M.E. grynde "groin," originally "depression in the ground," from O.E. grynde "abyss," perhaps also "depression, hollow," related to → ground.

Kašâl, kašâlé, literally "side, edge, margin," cf. Dari Kermâni kašâr, Kermâni kešâl "side, edge," from kašidan "to draw, pull, trace, trail," → galaxy.

An instrument composed of a vertical staff and a horizontal cross with a plumb line at the end of each arm. It was used in ancient Roman empire to survey straight lines, squares, and rectangles.

From L. groma, gruma, from Gk. → gnomon, possibly through Etruscan.

→ grating groove.

Groove, from O.N. grod "pit," or M.Du. groeve "furrow, ditch," from P.Gmc. *grobo (cf. O.H.G. gruoba "ditch," Goth. groba "pit, cave," O.E. græf "ditch"), related to grave (n.).

Šiyâr "furrow, ploughed ground," from Av. karši-, karša- "furrow," karšuiiā "plowed (land)," related to Mod.Pers. kašidan/kešidan "to carry, draw, protract, trail, drag;" Mid.Pers. kešidan "to draw, pull;" from Av. karš- "to draw; to plow;" cf. Skt. kars-, kársati "to pull, drag, plough," karṣū- "furrow, trench;" Gk. pelo, pelomai "to be in motion, to bustle;" PIE base k^wels- "to plow."

1) The surface of the Earth; soil.
2) The foundation or basis on which a belief or action rests.

From O.E. grund "foundation, ground, surface of the earth," from P.Gmc. *grundus (cf. Du. grond, Ger. Grund "ground, soil, bottom").

1) Zamin, variant zami "earth, ground," from Mid.Pers. zamig "earth;" Av. zam- "the earth;" cf. Skt. ksam; Gk. khthôn, khamai "on the ground;" L. homo "earthly being" and humus "the earth" (as in homo sapiens or homicide, humble, humus, exhume); PIE root *dh(e)ghom "earth."
2) Zaminé, from zamin + nuance suffix -é.

The lowest energy state of an atom, molecule, or ion, when all electrons are in their lowest possible energy levels, i.e. not excited.

→ ground; → state.

An astronomical observation carried out using a telescope on Earth, as opposed to that from an orbiting satellite.

→ ground; based, adj. of base, from O.Fr. bas, from L. basis "foundation," from Gk. basis "step, pedestal," from bainein "to step;" → observation.

Nepâheš, → observation; az "from," → ex-; zamin, → ground.

1a) Any collection or assemblage of persons or things considered together or regarded as belonging together; e.g. → Local Group of galaxies.
1b) Math.: A set of elements a, b, c, ..., finite or infinite in number, with a rule for combining any two of them to form a "product," subject to the following four axioms: → closure axiom, → associative axiom, → identity axiom, and → inverse axiom.
2a) (v.tr.) To place or associate together in a group.
2b) (v.intr.) To be part of a group.

From Fr. groupe "cluster, group," from It. gruppo "cluster, packet, knot," likely from P.Gmc. *kruppa "round mass, lump."

Goruh "group," from Mid.Pers. grôh "group, crowd."

A branch of mathematics concerned with structures called → groups and the description of their properties. Group theory provides a powerful formal method of analyzing abstract and physical systems in which → symmetry is present. It has a very considerable use in physics, especially → quantum mechanics, notably in analyzing the → eigenstates of energy of a physical system.

→ group; → theory.

The velocity at which the envelope of a → wave packet propagates, v_gr = dω/dk, at k₀ (the central value of k). The group velocity can be equal to, larger, or smaller than the → phase velocity.

→ group; → velocity.

The act or process of uniting into groups.
A collection of things assembled into a group.
The occurence of several astronomical objects, usually of the same category, in a region of the sky.

Verbal noun of → group.

To increase by natural development, as any living organism or part by assimilation of nutriment; increase in size or substance (Dictionary.com).

From M.E. growen, O.E. growan; cf. Du. groeien, O.H.G. grouwan; PIE base *ghre- "to grow, become green," from which is also derived grass.

Ruyidan, rostan "to grow," from Mid.Pers. rôditan, rustan "to grow;" Av. raod- "to grow, sprout, shoot," with fra- "to grow up, shoot forth;" cf. Skt. ruh- "to grow, develop, ascend, climb," rohati "grows," rudh- "to grow, sprout, shoot," rodhati "grows."

The act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase. → curve of growth; → grain growth.

Ruyeš, verbal noun of → grow; rost, past stem of ruyidan, → grow, used as verbal noun.

The Crane. A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere , located at 22h 30m right ascension, -45° declination. Its brightest star, of magnitude 1.7 and spectral type B7. Abbreviation: Gru; genitive: Gruis

From L. grus "crane;" akin to Gk. geranos "crane;" Welsh garan; Lith. garnys "heron, stork;" O.E. cran; E. crane. Named by Johann Bayer in 1603.

Dornâ "crane," from Turkish, a bird of the family Gruidae.

1a) An opinion that one reaches or to which one commits oneself on the basis of probability alone or in the absence of any evidence whatever.
1b) The act of forming such an opinion.
2a) To arrive at or commit oneself to an opinion about (something) without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully.
2b) To estimate or conjecture about correctly (Dictionary.com).

M.E. gessen, perhaps from Scandinavian; cf. Sw., Dan., Norw. gissa, M.L.G. gissen, M.Du. gessen, related to verb get.

Hads, from Ar. Hads "intuition, conjecture, surmise."

1) To → control or direct the → motion or course of.
2) Something that directs the motion or points the way. → autoguider, → guide star, → guider, → lightguide, → waveguide.

M.E. giden (v.), from O.Fr. guider "to guide, lead," from Frankish *witan "show the way" (cf. Ger. weisen "to show, point out," wissen "to know;" O.E. witan "to see"). Cognate with Pers. bin- "to see" (present stem of didan "to see"); Mid.Pers. wyn-; O.Pers. vain- "to see;" Av. vaēn- "to see;" Skt. veda "I know;" Gk. oida "I know," idein "to see;" L. videre "to see;" PIE base *weid- "to know, to see."

Râh bordan "to guide, conduct," from râh "path, → way," + bordan "to carry, lead," → vector.

A relatively bright star conveniently located in the → field of view used for → guiding.

→ guide; → star.