Advertisement

Origin and history of gyrostatics

gyrostatics(n.)

branch of dynamics dealing with rotating bodies, 1883, from gyrostatic (1875); see gyrostat + -ics.

also from 1883

Entries linking to gyrostatics

gyrostat(n.)

instrument for illustrating the dynamics of rotation, 1868, from gyro- + -stat.

-ics

in the names of sciences or disciplines (acoustics, aerobics, economics, etc.), a 16c. revival of the classical custom of using the neuter plural of adjectives with Greek -ikos "pertaining to" (see -ic) to mean "matters relevant to" and also as the titles of treatises about them. Subject matters that acquired their English names before c. 1500, however, tend to be singular in form (arithmetic, logic, magic, music, rhetoric). The grammatical number of words in -ics (mathematics is/mathematics are) is a confused question.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    folk
    Old English folc "common people, laity; men; people, nation, tribe; multitude; troop, army," from Proto-Germanic *fulka- (source also of Old Saxon folc, Old Frisian folk, Middle Dutch volc, Dutch volk, Old High German folc, German Volk "people"). Perhaps originally "host of warri
    private
    late 14c., "pertaining or belonging to oneself, not shared, peculiar to an individual only;" of a thing, "not open to the public, for the use of privileged persons;" of a religious rule, "not shared by Christians generally, distinctive;" from Latin privatus "set apart (from what
    Amazon
    late 14c., "one of a race of female warriors in Scythia," via Old French (13c.) or Latin, from Greek Amazon (mostly in plural Amazones), probably from an unknown non-Indo-European word, or possibly from an Iranian compound *ha-maz-an- "(one) fighting together" [Watkins]. But in f
    martyr
    "one who bears testimony to faith," especially "one who willingly suffers death rather than surrender his or her religious faith," specifically "one of the Christians who in former times were put to death because they would not renounce their beliefs," late Old English martyr, fr
    distress
    late 13c., "circumstance that causes anxiety or hardship," from Old French destresse (Modern French détresse), from Vulgar Latin *districtia "restraint, affliction, narrowness, distress," from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere "draw apart, hinder," also, in Medieva
    sequester
    late 14c., sequestren, transitive, "remove (something), set aside; quarantine, isolate (someone); excommunicate;" also intransitive, "separate oneself from," from Old French sequestrer (14c.) and directly from Late Latin sequestrare "to place in safekeeping," from Latin sequester
    holiday
    1500s, earlier haliday (c. 1200), from Old English haligdæg "holy day, consecrated day, religious anniversary; Sabbath," from halig "holy" (see holy) + dæg "day" (see day); in 14c. meaning both "religious festival" and "day of exemption from labor and recreation," but pronunciati
    Stepin Fetchit
    type of stereotypical Black roles in Hollywood, or in popular culture generally, from the stage name of popular Black vaudeville actor Lincoln Theodore Perry (1902-1985), who first appeared in films under that name in "In Old Kentucky" (1927). Perry said he took the name from a r
    prose
    c. 1300, "story, narration," from Old French prose (13c.) and directly from Latin prosa, short for prosa oratio "straightforward or direct speech" (without the ornaments of verse), from prosa, fem. of prosus, earlier prorsus "straightforward, direct," from Old Latin provorsus "(m
    emotion
    1570s, "a (social) moving, stirring, agitation," from French émotion (16c.), from Old French emouvoir "stir up" (12c.), from Latin emovere "move out, remove, agitate," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + movere "to move" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). The sense

    Share gyrostatics

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near gyrostatics
    Advertisement