Ptolemaic system

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noun Astronomy.

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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Origin of Ptolemaic system

First recorded in 1765–75

Words nearby Ptolemaic system

PTN, PTO, ptochocracy, Ptolemaeus, Ptolemaic, Ptolemaic system, Ptolemaic universe, Ptolemaist, Ptolemy, Ptolemy I, Ptolemy II

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Ptolemaic system in a sentence

There were no deaths on scheduled commercial aviation flights in 2014, in a system that operates 68,000 flights a day.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
She fills her characters up—strong women beating back against a sexist system—with so much heart.
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’|Marlow Stern|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A hundred ultra-wealthy liberal and conservative donors have taken over the political system.
The 100 Rich People Who Run America|Mark McKinnon|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“Stay in formation,” a sergeant from the ceremonial unit said over a public address system to the cops along the street.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss|Michael Daly|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Both parties are now equal opportunity offenders when it comes to gaming the system.
The 100 Rich People Who Run America|Mark McKinnon|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sweden excluded British goods, conformably to the continental system established by Bonaparte.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
As Spain, however, has fallen from the high place she once held, her colonial system has also gone down.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
The reformers of the earlier period were not indifferent to the need for centralized organization in the banking system.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
Accordingly, the question "How far does the note issue under the new system seem likely to prove an elastic one?"
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
Thanks to Berthier's admirable system, Bonaparte was kept in touch with every part of his command.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison

British Dictionary definitions for Ptolemaic system

Ptolemaic system

noun

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 starsSee also epicycle (def. 1) Compare Copernican system

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for Ptolemaic system

Ptolemaic system

[ tŏl′ə-mā′ĭk ]

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. See more at epicycle.