Hypertext Webster Gateway: "astronomy"
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.)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.]
Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck; And yet
methinks I have astronomy. --Shak.
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.
3. A treatise on, or text-book of, the science.
{Physical astronomy}. See under {Physical}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
astronomy
n : the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the
universe as a whole [syn: {uranology}]
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