Earth & SkyGreek → English
Astrophysics
/ˌæstroʊˈfɪzɪks/noun
The physics of stars and other celestial bodies.
The Greek roots
ἄστρον
ástron
star
φύσις
phýsis
nature
Literally: “star nature”
The story of the word
The word arrived in the late nineteenth century because the subject did. Once the spectroscope showed that the same elements burn in the Sun as in a laboratory flame, stars stopped being points to be mapped and became objects to be explained. Astronomy names the stars; astrophysics asks what they are made of and why they shine.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
astronomyphysicsastrologydisaster
In a sentence
She switched from pure maths to astrophysics after one summer at the observatory.