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

1) The act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true.
2) Something that is inferred.

From M.L. inferentia, from inferre, from → in- "in" + ferre "to carry, bear," cognate with Pers. bordan "to carry, bear," as below.

Darbord (on the models of daryâft "perception" and peybord "understanding, finding;" see also bâzbord, → reference), from dar-, → in-, + bord past stem of bordan "to carry, bear;" (Mid.Pers. burdan; O.Pers./Av. bar- "to bear, carry," Av. barəθre "to bear (infinitive);" Skt. bharati "he carries;" Gk. pherein; L. fero "to carry;" PIE base *bher- "to carry").

Lower in place or position; closer to the bottom or base.
Astro.: → inferior conjunction; → inferior culmination; → inferior planet.

From L. inferior "lower," comp. form of inferus (adj.) "that is below or beneath," from infra "below" (→ infrared), cognate with Pers. zir, as below.

Zirin, adj. from zir "below, down," Mid.Pers. azêr "below, under," êr "below, down; low, under," adar "low;" Av. aδara- (adj.), aδairi- (prep.) "below;" cf. Skt. ádhara- "lower;" L. infra (adv., prep.) "below, underneath, beneath," inferus "lower;" O.E. under "under, among"); PIE base *ndher.

The conjunction of an inferior planet with the Sun when the planet is between the Sun and the Earth. → superior conjunction.

→ inferior; → conjunction.

The meridian transit of a star between the celestial pole and the north point of the horizon. Same as → lower culmination. → superior culmination.

→ inferior; → culmination.

A planet that orbits between the Earth and the Sun. Mercury and Venus are the only two inferior planets in the Solar System.

→ inferior; → planète.

Unlimited or unmeasurable in extent of space, duration of time, etc.
Math.: Not finite; an infinite quantity or magnitude; large beyond bound.
Of a set, having elements that can be put into one-to-one correspondence with a subset that is not the given set.

→ in- + → finite.

A → statistical population consisting of individuals or items which either possesses the infinite property through some limiting process or is non-enumerable. For example, the population of all → real numbers between 0 and 1 and the population of all → integers are examples of infinite population. In case of random sampling with replacement, any population is always infinite.

→ infinite; → population.

A series with infinitely many terms, in other words a series that has no last term, such as 1 + 1/4 + 1/9 + 1/16 + · · · + 1/n² + ... . The idea of infinite series is familiar from decimal expansions, for instance the expansion π = 3.14159265358979... can be written as π = 3 + 1/10 + 4/10² + 1/10³ + 5/10⁴ + 9/10⁵ + 2/10⁶ + 6/10⁷ + 5/10⁸ + 3/10⁹ + 5/10¹⁰ + 8/10¹¹ + ... , so π is an "infinite sum" of fractions. See also → finite series.

→ infinite; → series.

A set which can be put in a one-to-one correspondence with part of itself.

→ infinite; → set.

General: Indefinitely or exceedingly small.
Math.: A variable that approaches zero as a limit. A quantity decreasing indefinitely without actually becoming zero.

Infinitesimal, coined by Ger. philosopher and mathematician Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716) from N.L. infinitesim(us) "infinite in rank," from infinit(us), → infinite, + -esimus suffix of ordinal numerals + → -al.

Bikarânxord, from bikarân "unbounded, unlimited, infinite," from bi- "without" + karân "boundary, side, end" (variants karâné, kenâr, from Mid.Pers. karân, karânak, kenâr "edge, limit, boundary," Av. karana- "side, boundary, end") + xord "minute, little, small" (from Mid.Pers. xvart, xôrt "small, insignificant;" Av. ādra- "weak, dependent;" Skt. ādhrá- "small, weak, poor," nādh "to be oppressed;" Gk. nothros "sluggish;" PIE base *nhdhro-).

The body of rules and processes by means of which continuously varying magnitudes are dealt with in → calculus. The combined methods of mathematical analysis of → differential calculus and → integral calculus.

→ infinitesimal, → calculus.

The nominal form of the verb which expresses the idea of action or state without indicating person, number, or tense.

Contraction of L. infinitivus modus "unlimited, indefinite mood," from L. infinitus, → infinite.

Karpâyé, literally "action base," from kar-, → verb, + pâyé, → base.

That quantity which is greater than any assignable quantity.

Noun form of → infinite.

1) Feeble or weak in body or health, especially because of age.
2) To unvalidate.

M.E. infirm, from L. infirmus "weak, frail, not strong or firm" from → in- "not, opposite of" + firmus, → firm.

Nâdeš, from nâ- "not," → in-, + deš, → firm.

An → affix that is inserted within a root or stem.

From L. infixus p.p. of infigere "to fasten in," from in- + figere "fasten."

Darvand, from dar- "in" + vand, → affix.

To become inflated; to increase, especially suddenly and substantially. → inflation, → inflatory model.

Inflate, from L. inflatus p.p. of inflare "to blow into, puff up," from → in- "into" + flare "to blow."

Pandâmidan "to swell," from pandâm [Mo'in] "swelling;" Borujerdi panâm, panam "swellig;" Malâyeri panomidan "to swell;" Laki penamiyen "to swell;" Hamadâni pandumidan "swelling of the eye or other parts of the body;" Kermâni padum kerdan "to swell," padum "swelled; fat, corpulent;" Tâleši pandâm, pandom "swelling;" Gilaki pandâm kudan "rising of river water caused by flood;" cf. Gk. pneuma "wind; breath," from pnein "to blow; to breathe;" PIE base *pneu- "to breathe." Related terms in other Indo-European languages: O.E. fnaeran "to breathe heavily," fneosan "to snort, sneeze;" M.H.G. pfnusen, pfnehen "to breathe, pant, sniff, snort, sneeze;" Norw. fnysa "to breeze;" M.Du. fniesen, Du. fniezen "to sneeze;" O.H.G. niosan, Ger. niesen "to sneeze."

1) General: The act of inflating; the state of being inflated.
2) Cosmology: A brief exponential expansion of the Universe postulated to have occurred 10^-35 seconds after the → Big Bang, in response to the separation of the → strong interaction from the → electroweak interaction. This idea aims at explaining the → flatness problem, the → horizon problem, and the → magnetic monopole problem. See also → inflaton field.

Verbal noun of → inflate.

A class of → Big Bang models of the Universe that include a finite period of accelerated expansion in their early histories. Such an event would have released enormous energy, stored until then in the vacuum of space-time. The horizon of the Universe expanded, temporarily, much faster than the speed of light. → inflaton field.

Inflationary, adj. of → inflation; → model.

The hypothetical → particle that mediates the hypothetical → inflaton field.

From inflat-, from → inflaton field, + particle suffix → -on.

A hypothetical → scalar field that provides a theoretical basis for → inflation in the early → Big Bang history of the → Universe. The inflaton field would fill space with the same energy at every point. In general, the scalar field can vary with time and space, though to a first approximation everywhere in the Universe will have the same value at any time. The field has a particle associated with it, called → inflaton, just as the → electromagnetic field is associated with the → photon. The inflaton field is characterized also by a → negative pressure that would yield a tremendous → repulsive gravity during a brief lapse of time. In the earliest moments of the Universe, space is uniformly filled with an inflaton field, whose value places it higher up on its → potential energy curve. The inflaton's → potential energy would drop in a tiny fraction of a second, on the order of 10^-35 seconds. And yet, during that brief instant, space would expand by a colossal factor, of at least 10³⁰.

→ inflaton; → field.