Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to the theory of Copernicus that Earth rotates daily on its axis and, with the other planets in the solar system, revolves around the sun.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to Copernicus (originally Koppernigk, 1473-1543), a Prussian Pole and a celebrated astronomer, who, in a work published in 1543, promulgated the now received theory that the earth and the planets revolve about the sun; pertaining to or in accord with the astronomical doctrines of Copernicus.
  • noun An adherent of the astronomical doctrines of Copernicus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to Copernicus, a Prussian by birth (b. 1473, d. 1543), who taught the world the solar system now received, called the Copernican system.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the influential astronomer.
  • adjective Or of pertaining to one or more of his theories.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective according to Copernicus
  • adjective of radical or major importance

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Copernicus +‎ -an

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Examples

  • It flies in the face of the so-called Copernican principle and implies that our existence is... well... a miracle.

    Seth Shostak: Are We a Biological Miracle? Seth Shostak 2010

  • It flies in the face of the so-called Copernican principle and implies that our existence is ... well ... a miracle.

    Seth Shostak: Are We a Biological Miracle? Seth Shostak 2010

  • Pernicus, out of respect to his father's partners) soon set this matter to rights, and started the idea of the present Solar System, which, greatly improved since his day, is occasionally called the Copernican system.

    The Wit and Humor of America, Volume V. (of X.) Various 1887

  • The names Copernicus and Galileo are connected to one of the greatest paradigm shifts in the history of science, a shift often referred to as the Copernican Revolution.

    The G.O.D. Experiments Gary E. Schwartz 2006

  • The first book, the best known, discussed what came to be known as the Copernican theory and what is Copernicus's most important contribution to astronomy, the heliocentric universe (although in Copernicus's model, the sun is not truly in the center).

    Nicolaus Copernicus Rabin, Sheila 2005

  • Galileo developed a theory called the Copernican theory that challenged the Church.

    nisayon Diary Entry nisayon 2003

  • At one time this was called the Copernican theory; but, when evidence for a theory becomes so overwhelming that no informed person can doubt it, it is customary for scientists to call it a fact.

    The Fortune Cookie File from Karl Lehenbauer Part 3 1989

  • The new system is called Copernican after its first modern exponent -- and its general acceptance went far to annihilate astrology and to place astronomy upon a rational basis.

    A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1. Carlton J. H. Hayes 1923

  • So important was it thought to have "sound learning" guarded and "safe science" taught, that in many of the universities, as late as the end of the seventeenth century, professors were forced to take an oath not to hold the "Pythagorean" -- that is, the Copernican -- idea as to the movement of the heavenly bodies.

    A History of the warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom 1896

  • The promulgation of the accepted system of astronomy, called the Copernican system, which represents the earth as revolving on its axis and considers the sun as the centre of motion for the earth and other planets, marked the greatest of scientific revolutions.

    The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 09 John [Editor] Rudd 1885

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