(geometry) Any circle whose circumference rolls around that of another circle, thus creating a hypocycloid or epicycloid.
Used in a Sentence
epicycles
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for epicycles.
Editorial note
Are your adjustments the epicycles upon epicycles hammered onto ancient astronomy's theory of mechanics to make the orbits of the planets appear to work?
Examples14
Definitions4
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(geometry) Any circle whose circumference rolls around that of another circle, thus creating a hypocycloid or epicycloid.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of epicycles gathered in one view.
(figuratively) An ad hoc complication added to a model to make it fit the known data
(organic chemistry) A ring of atoms joining parts of an already cyclic compound
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for epicycles.
noun
(geometry) Any circle whose circumference rolls around that of another circle, thus creating a hypocycloid or epicycloid.
noun
(figuratively) An ad hoc complication added to a model to make it fit the known data
noun
(organic chemistry) A ring of atoms joining parts of an already cyclic compound
noun
(astronomy) A small circle whose centre is on the circumference of a larger circle; in Ptolemaic astronomy it was seen as the basis of revolution of the "seven planets", given a fixed central Earth.
Example sentences
Are your adjustments the epicycles upon epicycles hammered onto ancient astronomy's theory of mechanics to make the orbits of the planets appear to work?
I suspect that quantum theory is like Ptolemaic epicycles: a great way to mathematically describe observed reality, but fundamentally incorrect.
Really, Copernicus' accomplishment was that his model worked very well yet left out a huge heap of epicycles.
The reason you can use epicycles to draw anything is because the trig functions form a complete orthonormal system.
When the Copernican heliocentric model became accepted, all the work on epicycles became more or less useless.
It's the Copenhagen interpretation that is like the epicycles, by postulating a collapse that the equations don't mention at all.
See, the epicycles really were additional entities, and therefore a problem, with respect to Occam's razor.
The epicycles fit the data very well, but added a lot of parameters to the model.
One gets the feeling though that one day in the future 'dark matter' is gonna look a lot like 'epicycles'.
To a circularist, elliptical orbits are horribly complex, as they have to be approximated by an infinite series of epicycles.
Ellipses are more counter-intuitive, compared to circles, but epicycles are still more complex than ellipses.
It isn't that hard to procure a new epicycles for every argument against your theory.
Quote examples
We don't exactly have a spare universe to test our scientific models for over-fitting, but maybe if there were a second planetary system at the time to test against it would have been clear sooner that the "epicycles" model fit only this solar system from the vantage point of earth?
Proper noun examples
Epicycles provided better predictions than heliocentric system until Newton.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use epicycles in a sentence?
Are your adjustments the epicycles upon epicycles hammered onto ancient astronomy's theory of mechanics to make the orbits of the planets appear to work?
What does epicycles mean?
(geometry) Any circle whose circumference rolls around that of another circle, thus creating a hypocycloid or epicycloid.
What part of speech is epicycles?
epicycles is commonly used as noun.