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

1) Modern spirit or character.
2) Modern usage, expression, or trait.
3) In early 20th century art, literature, and architecture, a movement characterized by the use of unconventional subject matter and style, experimental technique, etc.

→ modern + → -ism.

1) An admirer of modern ideas, ways, etc.
2) Someone who practises or advocates → Modernism.

→ modern + → -ist.

1) The quality of being → modern.
2) A rather diffuse term with many meanings depending on the disciplinary context. Generally, modernity refers to the cultural, intellectual, and economic consequences of the → Enlightenment and the epoch with which they are associated. Modernity is the end result of the → modernization process.

→ modern + → -ity.

1) The act of modernizing; the state of being modernized; something modernized.
2) A pattern of social and economic change initiated in the 17th century in Western Europe and subsequently extended to many other parts of the world. Its characteristics include secularization, rationalization in political and economic life, industrialization, urbanization, and increased level of popular involvement in public affairs.

Verbal noun of → modernize; → -tion.

To bring something up to modern standards, or adapt it to modern style, conditions, etc.

→ modern + → -ize.

An act or instance of modifying; the state of being modified; partial alteration.

Verbal noun of → modify.

A modification of the Julian Date, representing the number of days that have elapsed since midnight (instead of noon) at the beginning of Wednesday November 17, 1858. MJD = JD - 2,400,000.5 The reason for adopting that date is the fact that the Julian Day 2,400,000 just happens to be November 17, 1858.

→ modify; → Julian date.

A modification of the Newton's law of gravitation below a critical acceleration of about 1.2 x 10^-8 cm s^-2, where the gravitational force scales as 1/r instead of 1/r². Originally put forward to describe the rotation curves of galaxies with no need to assume any dark matter, MOND is now tested at larger cosmological scales (Milgrom, M. 1983, ApJ, 270, 365).

→ modify; → Newtonian dynamics.

A quantity defined as Π = (dM/dt) v_∞ R^0.5 for a star with radius R having a wind with → terminal velocity v_∞ and a → mass loss rate dM/dt. There is a tight linear relation between the modified wind momenta and the stellar luminosities for → Population I→ O stars. See also → wind momentum.

→ modify; → wind; → momentum.

In data processing, a quantity used to alter an instruction in a prescribed way to produce the instruction actually obeyed.

Agent noun of → modify.

To change somewhat the form or qualities of; alter partially; amend.
To reduce or lessen in degree or extent; moderate; soften:

From O.Fr. modifier, from L. modificare "to impose a rule or pattern, regulate, restrain," from modus "measure, rhythm, song, manner" PIE base *med-/*met- "to measure, limit, consider, advise, take appropriate measures" + root of facere "to make"

Vâtarzidan, from vâ- prefix denoting "reversal, opposition; separation; repetition; open; off; away" (variant of bâz-, from Mid.Pers. abâz-, apâc-; O.Pers. apa- [pref.] "away, from;" Av. apa- [pref.] "away, from," apaš [adv.] "toward the back;" cf. Skt. ápāñc "situated behind") + tarz "mode, manner" + -idan infinitive suffix.

General: To regulate by or adjust to a certain measure or proportion; tone down. Physics: To alter the value of some parameter characterizing a periodic oscillation. → modulation.

From L. modulatus pr.p. of modulari "to regulate, measure off properly," from modulus "small measure," diminutive of modus "measure, manner," → mode.

Degarâhangidan, from degar "other, another," denoting change, variant digar (Mid.Pers. dit, ditikar "the other, the second;" O.Pers. duvitiya- "second," Av. daibitya-, bitya- "second;" Skt. dvitiya- "second," PIE *duitiio- "second") + âhang "melody, pitch, tune, modulation" (ultimately from Proto-Iranian *āhang-, from prefix ā- + *hang-, from PIE base *seng^wh- "to sing, make an incantation;" cf. O.H.G. singan; Ger. singen; Goth. siggwan; Swed. sjunga; O.E. singan "to chant, sing, tell in song;" maybe cognate with Gk. omphe "voice; oracle") + -idan infinitive suffix.

A combination of two or more waves resulting in the production of frequencies not present in the original waves, the new frequencies being usually the sums and differences of integral multiples of the frequencies in the original waves.
A wave which varies in some characteristic in accordance with the variations of a modulating signal. Compare continuous wave. See modulation

Modulated, p.p. of → modulate; → wave.

General: The modification of some property of a phenomenon by another distinct phenomenon.
Physics: Variation of some characteristic (amplitude, phase, or frequency) of a radio wave, called the carrier wave, in accordance with instantaneous values of another wave, called the modulating wave. → amplitude modulation; → frequency modulation.
Optics: A synonym for contrast, particularly when applied to a series of parallel lines and spaces imaged by a lens.

Verbal noun of → modulate.

A measure of the ability of an optical system to reproduce (transfer) various levels of detail from the object to the image, as shown by the degree of contrast (modulation) in the image. → optical transfer function.

→ modulation; → transfer; → function.

Any device for effecting the process of modulation.

from L. modulator, from → modulate + -tor a suffix forming personal agent nouns from verbs.

Vâhangâr, from vâhang, → modulation, + -âr, contraction of âvar agent noun of âvardan "to bring; to cause, produce" (Mid.Pers. âwurtan, âvaritan; Av. ābar- "to bring; to possess," from prefix ā- + Av./O.Pers. bar- "to bear, carry," bareθre "to bear (infinitive)," bareθri "a female that bears (children), a mother;" Mod.Pers. bordan "to carry;" Skt. bharati "he carries;" Gk. pherein; L. fero "to carry").

A distinct and separable element of a spacecraft or space station.

From M.Fr. module, from L. modulus "small measure," diminutive of modus "measure, manner," → mode.

Modul, loan as above. Tarzul, from tarz→ mode + -ul, → -ula.

An open-source, one-dimensional astrophysical code which is capable of calculating the evolution of stars in a wide range of environments. It works according to the → Henyey method and uses many modules that deal with various aspects of the theoretical models, such as the → equation of state (EOS), → nuclear reaction networks, → chemical composition, micro-physics, or macro-physics. The EOS and corresponding opacities or nuclear networks are provided in tabulated formats and can be selected by the user, while the micro-physics and macro-physics can be controlled by inlists of relevant parameters and settings (Paxton et al. 2015, ApJS 220, 15 and references therein).

→ module; → experiment; → stellar; → astrophysics.

A real, positive quantity that measures the magnitude of some number. For instance, the modulus of a complex number is the square root of the sum of the squares of its components. Often it means, simply, the numerical ("absolute") value of an algebraic quantity.

From L. modulus, → module.

Peymun, variant of peymâné "a measure either for dry or wet goods; a bushel, cup, bowl," from peymudan, peymâyidan "to measure," from Mid.Pers. patmudan, paymudan "to measure (against)," from *pati-māya-. The first element *pati- "against, back" (cf. Mod.Pers. pâd- "agaist, contrary to;" Mid.Pers. pât-; O.Pers. paity "agaist, back, opposite to, toward, face to face, in front of;" Av. paiti; Skt. práti "toward, against, again, back, in return, opposite;" Pali pati-; Gk. proti, pros "face to face with, toward, in addition to, near;" PIE *proti). The second element from *mā- "to measure;" O.Pers./Av. mā(y)- "to measure;" cf. Skt. mati "measures," matra- "measure;" Gk. metron "measure;" L. metrum; PIE base *me- "to measure." Apart from peymâné, several other terms in Mod.Pers. are related to this second element, which occurs also as mun, mân, man, mâ, mu, and mây: pirâmun "perimeter," âzmun, âzmây- "test, trial," peymân "measuring, agreement," man "a measure weighing forty seers"), nemudan, nemâ- "to show, display," âmâdan, âmây- "to prepare."

Same as → shear modulus.

→ modulus; → rigidity.