heliocentrism

American  

[hee-lee-uh-sen-triz-uhm] / ˌhi li əˈsɛn trɪz əm /

noun

1. the astronomical theory in which the sun is at the center of a system that includes the earth and other planets, which revolve around it.

---

Other Word Forms

• heliocentrist noun

Etymology

Origin of heliocentrism

First recorded in 1875–80; heliocentr(ic) ( def. ) + -ism ( def. )

Example Sentences

It named for Nicolaus Copernicus, the Renaissance proponent of heliocentrism, the theory that placed the sun rather than the Earth at the centre of the universe.

From Reuters • Sep. 7, 2023

Both discoveries provided key evidence in favor of the model of heliocentrism, developed by Nicolaus Copernicus and published in 1543, which displaced the previous, dogmatic and incorrect, geocentric model of the universe.

From Scientific American • Aug. 15, 2021

The Dialogue consisted of two imaginary interlocutors, one of whom presented the case for heliocentrism, the other for geocentrism.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

Four towering sixteenth-century scientists — Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei — discovered heliocentrism at a time of sociopolitical tumult.

From Nature • Dec. 9, 2019

Copernicus’s disciple Rheticus, in the first published account of the Copernican theory, held back any reference to heliocentrism for as long as he possibly could, for fear of alienating his readers.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton