Ptolemaic system
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌtoʊləˈmeɪɪk ˈsɪstəm/
- Specialized
:
sistema ptolemaico
- In fact, the Ptolemaic system predicted planetary positions much better than Nicolaus Copernicus's initial theory.
Examples
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He refused the reasonable third position which the Church offered him: that Copernicanism might be considered a hypothesis, one even superior to the Ptolemaic system, until further proof could be adduced.
Blog text (2) -
Though many students of astronomy in 17th-century Europe still subscribed to the Ptolemaic system, the stage was set to begin the drama of determining the true size of the Solar System and eventually the distances to the stars.
Academic text (2004) -
At the time it was proposed and for many years thereafter, the Copernican system did not work as well as the Ptolemaic system.
Academic text (1991) -
For predicting the positions of the planets, the Ptolemaic system was superior... if you had been an applied astronomer, you would have continued to use the Ptolemaic system.
Academic text (1991) -
For predicting the positions of the planets, the Ptolemaic system was superior... if you had been an applied astronomer, you would have continued to use the Ptolemaic system.
Academic text (1991) -
Galileo was forced to recant his heliocentric views because the Roman Catholic Church had already embraced the Ptolemaic system as more consistent with Biblical revelation and with man's dignity as God's creation.
Academic text (2003) -
The Ptolemaic system suggests that Earth is at the center of the universe, with the sun and planets rotating around it.
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Before the acceptance of the Copernican model, many astronomers relied on the Ptolemaic system for predicting celestial movements.
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The Ptolemaic system, introduced by Ptolemy, was a widely accepted astronomical model for centuries.
Synonyms
1
8.3
A view that Earth is at the center and the Sun and stars move around it
1
9.2
The belief that Earth is the center and other bodies move around it
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'Ptolemaic' (pertaining to Ptolemy's geocentric model) modifies 'system' (a model or arrangement), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to the astronomical model associated with Ptolemy. This follows a regular adjective+noun pattern and is not idiomatic or metaphorical, making the meaning predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Ptolemaic system is named after the ancient scientist Ptolemy, who pictured the Earth sitting still in the middle while the sun and planets moved around it like lights on rings. That's why the name now means a model that puts the 'Earth at the center' of the universe.