astronomical

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin astronomicus (“astronomical”) with the English suffix -al,^[2][3][4] and the Latin word comes from Ancient Greek ἀστρονομικός (astronomikós),^[3][5][4] a derivative of the Greek words for astronomy and an astronomer.^[3][5] The Shorter Oxford also allows French astronomique as a source,^[6] and Etymonline forms it from English astronomy + -ical.^[7] The shorter astronomic is recorded later.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to astronomy: 1551, in a title by R. Recorde.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The colloquial sense "enormously large", from the huge numbers, distances and sizes that astronomy deals with, is recorded from 1871 in the OED,^[2] from 1899 in Etymonline^[7] and the late 19th century in the Shorter Oxford.^[6] The plural noun astronomicals meant astronomical matters from 1658, and in mathematics, fractions expressed in sixtieths (before 1690 to 1881).^[2] The term astronomical unit, the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun used as a unit of distance in space, dates from 1909.^[7][6]

Timeline

• 1551 – of or relating to astronomy.^[2][3]
• 1658 – plural noun, astronomical matters.^[2]
• before 1690 – plural noun, sexagesimal fractions (obsolete by 1881).^[2]
• 1871 – very large (1899 in Etymonline).^[2][7]
• 1909 – astronomical unit.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to astronomy: an astronomical observatory.^[8][3][2]
2. (informal) Enormously large: Rents in the city centre have become astronomical.^[8][2][6]

Word family

• astronomically
• astronomical unit
• astronomical year
• astronomical clock

Related words

• astronomy
• astronomer
• astronomic

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins