Ptolemaic system

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a system elaborated by Ptolemy and subsequently modified by others, according to which the earth was the fixed center of the universe, with the heavenly bodies moving about it.

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Ptolemaic system British  

noun

1. the theory of planetary motion developed by Ptolemy from the hypotheses of earlier philosophers, stating that the earth lay at the centre of the universe with the sun, the moon, and the known planets revolving around it in complicated orbits. Beyond the largest of these orbits lay a sphere of fixed stars See also epicycle Compare Copernican system

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Ptolemaic system Scientific  

/ tŏl′ə-mā′ĭk /

1. The astronomical system of Ptolemy, in which Earth is at the center of the universe and all celestial bodies revolve around it. The Sun, Moon, and planets revolve at different levels in circular orbits, and the stars lie in fixed locations on a sphere that revolves beyond these orbits.

2. See more at epicycle

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Etymology

Origin of Ptolemaic system

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

By this time, the old Ptolemaic system needed significant adjustments to predict the positions of the planets correctly.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

In fact, with some adjustments, the old Ptolemaic system could have accounted, as well, for the motions of the planets in the sky.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

For a thousand years the Ptolemaic system was believed all round the world.

From The Guardian • Sep. 28, 2012

The Ptolemaic system, like those of Plato and Aristotle, claimed that the moon, the sun and all the planets circled around the earth.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

In a sense, the Ptolemaic system does make a prediction that can be tested by observation.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin