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

1) The act or method of describing.
2) A statement, picture in words, or account that describes.
3) Geometry: The act or process of describing a figure.

Verbal noun of → describe.

A distinctive name or title; appellation. → Bayer designation; → Flamsteed designation; → variable star designation.

From L. designatus, p.p. of designare "to mark out, choose, appoint," from → de- "out" + signare "to mark," from signum, → sign.

Nâmgozini, from nâm, → name, + gozini "choosing," from gozidan "to chose," → select.

A physical or chemical process by which a substance that has been sorbed (adsorbed or absorbed) by a liquid or solid material is removed from the material. Reverse of → sorption. → absorption; → adsorption.

Verbal noun of → desorb.

The act or state of detecting, → detect
Any operation on an electrical or electromagnetic signal to recover information from it.

M.E., from L.L. detection-, from detect(us), → detect, + -ion.

škâreš, from âškâr present-tense stem of âškâridan→ detect + -š verbal noun suffix.

The act of deciding definitely and firmly; the result of such an act of decision.

Verbal noun of → determine.

1) To set off a → detonation. 2) To explode or cause to explode.

From L. detonatus, p.p. of detonare "to thunder down, roar out," from → de- + tonare "to thunder," cf. Pers. tondar "thunder," Skt. stanáyati "thunders," tanyatá- "thundering," Gk. stonos "groan," stenein "to groan," Thôrr "the Old Norse god of thunder," P.Gmc. *thunraz (Du. donder, Ger. Donner "thunder," E. thunder, Fr. tonnerre), PIE base *(s)tene- "to resound, thunder."

Tarâkidan "to split, cleave; to make a noise in splitting," variants tarakidan, taraqidan, taraqqé "firecracker," from tarâk/tarak "split, cleft, crack; the noise of anything when splitting or cleaving," maybe related to Pers. dar-, daridan "to tear, cut," Av. dar- "to tear," dərəta- "cut," auua.dərənant- "shattering," Skt. dar- "to crack, split, break, burst," darati "he splits," cf. Gk. derma "skin," E. tear, Ger. zerren "to pull, to tear," zehren "to undermine, to wear out," PIE base *der- " to split, peel, flay."

Instantaneous combustion or conversion of a solid, liquid, or gas into larger quantities of expanding gases accompanied by heat, shock, and a noise. → deflagration; → explosion.

Verbal noun of → detonate.

The process of introducing → deuterium into a → chemical compound.

Verbal noun of → deuterate.

The difference between the deuterium (D)/hydrogen (H) → abundance → ratio in an object with respect to that representing a standard or mean value for that type of objects. Same as → isotope fractionation of deuterium. In the gas phase chemistry many of the D fractionation reactions produce an excess of D atoms relative to → hydrogen atoms. Deuterium fractionation in → interstellar cloud cores, → protostars, and → Solar System bodies is frequently used to infer important aspects of their physical and chemical histories. For example, the → deuterium enhancement in the Earth's sea water, with respect to the cosmic abundance, has been interpreted as being due to → enrichment by → comet-like → planetesimals colliding with the young Earth.

→ deuterium; → fractionation.

A nucleus of a deuterium atom (a combination of a proton and a neutron).

From Gk. deutero-, combining form of deuterios "second" + -ion a suffix used in the names of subatomic particles.

The act of deviating; departure from a standard or norm.
Statistics: The difference between a datum and some reference value, typically the mean of the data. → standard deviation.

Verbal noun form of → deviate.

1) Profound dedication; consecration.
2) Earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc. (Dictionary.com).

Verbal noun of → devote.

The clockwise rotation of the → plane of polarization of light (as viewed by an observer looking straight in the incoming light) by certain substances. See also → levorotation.

→ dextro-; → rotation.

In a → polygon, a line segment joining any two non-adjacent vertices (→ vertex).

From M.Fr. diagonal, from L. diagonalis, from diagonus "slanting line," from Gk. diagonios "from angle to angle," from dia- "across, dividing two parts" + gonia "angle," related to gony "knee," L. genu "knee," Mod.Pers. zânu "knee," Av. žnav-, žnu- "knee," Skt. janu-; PIE base *g(e)neu-, see below.

Tarâkonj, from tarâ- "across, through," → trans-, + konj "angle, corner, confined place" (variants xong "corner, angle," Tabari kânj, Kurd. kunj, Hamadâni kom), maybe from the PIE base *g(e)neu-, as above, and related to Mod.Pers. zânu "knee" (Av. žnu-), Skt. kona- "angle, corner," Gk. gony, gonia, L. cuneus "a wedge," Albanian (Gheg dialect) kân "angle, corner," Albanian (Toks) kënd "angle, corner."

A crystalline form of → carbon, which is the hardest substance known. Each carbon in a diamond crystal is bonded to four other carbon atoms forming a tetrahedral unit. This tetrahedral bonding of five carbon atoms forms an incredibly strong molecule. Diamond has a very high → refractive index and → dispersive power. It is colorless when pure, and sometimes colored by traces of impurities. Natural diamond was formed billions of years ago within the Earth → mantle at depths greater than 150 km, where pressure is roughly 5 giga→ pascals and the temperature is around 1200 °C. Diamonds reach the surface of the Earth via volcanic eruptions. Similarly very small diamonds (micrometer and nanometer sizes) are usually found in impact sites of → meteorites. Such impact events create shock zones of high pressure and temperature suitable for diamond formation. When diamond is exposed to high temperatures or ion bombardment, it will be transformed into → graphite.

Diamond, from O.Fr. diamant, from M.L. diamant-, diamas-, from L. adamant-, adamas "hardest metal," from Gk. adamas "unbreakable," from → a- "not" + daman "to subdue, to tame;" cognate with Pers. dâm "a tame animal."

Almâs, loanword from Gk., as above.

An intense flash of light that happens a few seconds before and after totality during a solar eclipse. The effect is caused by the last rays of sunlight before totality (or the first rays of sunlight after totality) shining through valleys on the edge of the Moon.

→ diamond; → ring; → effect.

Oskar, → effect; angoštar "a ring worn on the finger," from angošt "finger," Mid.Pers. angušt "finger, toe," Av. angušta- "toe," from ank- "curved, crooked," cf. Skt. angustha- "thumb," ankah "hook, bent," Gk. angkon "elbow," angkura "anchor," L. angulum "corner" (E. angle), Lith. anka "loop," O.E. ancleo "ankle," O.H.G. ango "hook," PIE base *ang-/*ank- "to bend"; → diamond.

A reference source in print or electronic form containing words alphabetically arranged along with information about their forms, meanings, pronunciations, etymologies, etc.

M.L. dictionarium "collection of words and phrases," from L. dictionarius "of words," from dictio "word" from dic-, p.p. stem of L. dicere "speak, tell, say," from PIE root *deik- "to point out;" cf. Av. daēs- "to show," daēsa- "sign, omen;" cf. Skt. deś- "to show, point out;" → form.

Farhang, → culture.

An → equation of state for → real gases which leads to the → van der Waals equation as a → first approximation. It is of the form P(V - b) [exp (a/VRT)] = RT, where P is the pressure, V is the volume, T is the thermodynamic temperature, R is the → gas constant, and a and b are the constants characteristic of the gas.

Named after Conrad Dieterici (1858-1929), a German physicist; → equation.

Property of a mathematical function if it has a → derivative at a given point.

From → differentiable; → function.

An equation expressing a relationship between an → independent variable, x, an unknown → function, y = f(x), and its → derivatives. The general form of a differential equation is: F(x, y, y', y'', ..., y⁽ⁿ⁾) = 0, or F(x,y, dy/dx, d²y/dx², ..., dⁿy/dxⁿ) = 0. See also: → ordinary differential equation; → partial differential equation; → linear differential equation; → exact differential equation; → first-order differential equation; → homogeneous linear differential equation; → nonhomogeneous linear differential equation; → differential equation with separated variables; → differential equation with separable variables.

→ differential; → equation.