Astronomy

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Astronomy \As*tron"o*my\, n. [OE. astronomie, F. astronomie, L.
     astronomia, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? astronomer; 'asth`r star + ? to
     distribute, regulate. See {Star}, and {Nomad}.]
     1. Astrology. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  


              Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck;
              And yet methinks I have astronomy.    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The science which treats of the celestial bodies, of their
        magnitudes, motions, distances, periods of revolution,
        eclipses, constitution, physical condition, and of the
        causes of their various phenomena.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A treatise on, or text-book of, the science.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Physical astronomy}. See under {Physical}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  astronomy
       n : the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the
           universe as a whole [syn: {uranology}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  19 Moby Thesaurus words for "astronomy":
     astrogeology, astrognosy, astrography, astrolithology,
     astrophotography, astrophysics, celestial mechanics,
     gravitational astronomy, meteoritics, radar astronomy,
     radio astronomy, solar physics, spectrography, spectroscopy,
     stargazing, stellar photometry, uranography, uranology,
     uranometry
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Astronomy
     The Hebrews were devout students of the wonders of the starry
     firmanent (Amos 5:8; Ps. 19). In the Book of Job, which is the
     oldest book of the Bible in all probability, the constellations
     are distinguished and named. Mention is made of the "morning
     star" (Rev. 2:28; comp. Isa. 14:12), the "seven stars" and
     "Pleiades," "Orion," "Arcturus," the "Great Bear" (Amos 5:8; Job
     9:9; 38:31), "the crooked serpent," Draco (Job 26:13), the
     Dioscuri, or Gemini, "Castor and Pollux" (Acts 28:11). The stars
     were called "the host of heaven" (Isa. 40:26; Jer. 33:22).
     
       The oldest divisions of time were mainly based on the
     observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies, the
     "ordinances of heaven" (Gen. 1:14-18; Job 38:33; Jer. 31:35;
     33:25). Such observations led to the division of the year into
     months and the mapping out of the appearances of the stars into
     twelve portions, which received from the Greeks the name of the
     "zodiac." The word "Mazzaroth" (Job 38:32) means, as the margin
     notes, "the twelve signs" of the zodiac. Astronomical
     observations were also necessary among the Jews in order to the
     fixing of the proper time for sacred ceremonies, the "new
     moons," the "passover," etc. Many allusions are found to the
     display of God's wisdom and power as seen in the starry heavens
     (Ps. 8; 19:1-6; Isa. 51:6, etc.)