An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. A device that produces a representation of the heavens by the use of a number of moving projectors.
   
2. The building or room in which such a device is housed.

Etymology (EN): From → planet + -arium “a place for.”

Etymology (PE): 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”).
Âsmânxâné, literally “sky house,” from âsmân

• xâné “house” (Mid.Pers. xânak, xân, xôn; cf. L. cunae “cradle;” Gk. kome “village;” Pers. Aftari dialect kiye “house, home;” PIE base *kei- “bed; to lie, to settle; beloved” (other cognates: P.Gmc. *khaim-; O.E. ham “dwelling, house, village;” E. home; Ger. Heim; L. civis “townsman;” Fr. cité; E. city; Skt. śiva- “auspicious, dear”).