An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

9 terms — P › PS

P PA PE PF PG PH PI PL PO PR PS PT PU PY

Psamathe   پسامته   Psâmaté Fr.: Psamathé A → retrograde irregular satellite of → Neptune discovered in 2003. Also known as Neptune X. According to preliminary estimates, it orbits Neptune at a distance of about 47 million km and takes almost 25 Earth years to make one orbit. It is about 38 kilometers in diameter. See also: In Gk. mythology, one of the Nereids, lover of Aeacus and mother of Phocus.

pseudo-   دروژ-   doruž- Fr.: pseudo- A combining form meaning “false, erroneous, pretended, unreal,” used in the formation of compound words (pseudonym, pseudoclassic, pseudointellectual). In scientific use, denoting close or deceptive resemblance to the following element (pseudogene, pseudobulb, pseudocarp). → pseudo-disk, → pseudo-Euclidean space, → pseudo-nucleus, → pseudo-Riemannian space, → pseudoscience. Etymology (EN): From Gk. pseudo-, combining form of pseudes “false,” or pseudos “falsehood,” both from pseudein “to lie, cheat, falsify.” Etymology (PE): Doruž-, from Mid.Pers. druž “false, untrue, deceptive” (Mod.Pers. doruq “lie”), drôzitan, druxtan “to lie;” O.Pers. drauga- “lie;” Av. drug- “to lie,” družaiti “he lies, cheats;” cf. Skt. druhyati “he lies,” drôha-, drôgha- “insult, injury,” druh- “damage; ghost;” O.H.G. triogan “to deceive;” Ger. trügen “to deceive;” E. dream; PIE base *dhrugh- “to deceive, harm.”

pseudo-bulge   دروژ-کوژ   doruž-kuž Fr.: pseudo-bulbe A general designation for both → box-peanut and → disk-like bulges. Although both, as opposed to the → classical bulges, show important rotational support, they also have different properties. See also: → pseudo-; → bulge.

pseudo-disk   دروژ-گرده   doruž-gerdé Fr.: pseudo-disque A mass structure around a → protostar that resembles an → accretion disk, but is in fact a simple flattened envelope. See also: → pseudo-; → disk.

pseudo-Euclidean space   فضای ِ دروژ-اقلیدوسی   fazâ-ye doruž-Oqlidosi Fr.: espace pseudo-euclidien A real vector space of dimension n having a symmetric bilinear form (x, y) such that in some basis e1, …, en, the quadratic form (x2) takes the form x12 + … + xn - 12 - xn2. Such bases are called orthonormal. See also: → pseudo-; → Euclidean; → space.

pseudo-nucleus   دروژ-هسته   doruž-hasté Fr.: pseudo-noyau Same → false nucleus. See also: → pseudo-; → nucleus.

pseudo-Riemannian space   فضای ِ دروژ-ریمانی   fazâ-ye doruž-Riemanni Fr.: espace pseudo-riemannien A space with an affine connection (without torsion), at each point of which the tangent space is a → pseudo-Euclidean space (Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Kluwer Academic Publications, Editor in chief I. M. Vinogradov, 1991). See also: → pseudo-; → Riemannian; → space.

pseudonym   دروژنام   doružnâm Fr.: pseudonyme A fictitious name used by an author to conceal his or her identity; pen name (Dictionary.com). See also: → pseudo-; → name.

pseudoscience   دروژ-دانش   doruž-dâneš Fr.: pseudoscience Any set of ideas, methods, or assertions that claims to be objective and scientific but that in fact does not seriously value or attempt to apply objectivity and → scientific method to its endeavors. Pseudoscientific statements are usually not → falsifiable by means of → objective experimental or observational evidence, in contrast to scientific statements that can be refuted. Pseudoscience uses scientific-sounding terminology but totally lacks scientific support. Among pseudoscience examples are → astrology, scientology, clairvoyance, and parapsychology. See also: → pseudo-; → science.