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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

Etymology

Origin of heliocentrism

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

Specifically, Galileo was accused of supporting a condemned doctrine, heliocentrism, not of heresy per se.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2020

But projecting simple consciousness, in my view, actually contributes to an elegant solution to the mind-body problem which removes all the “epicycles” generated by physicalism and dualism—just like heliocentrism did to geocentrism.

From Scientific American Dec. 15, 2019

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

Yet the principles behind all these devices, like Aristarchus’s heliocentrism, died on the vine.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

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