Huygens

or Huy·ghens

[ hahy-guhnz, hoi-; Dutch hoi-gens ]

noun
  1. Chris·tian [kris-chuhn; Dutch kris-tee-ahn], /ˈkrɪs tʃən; Dutch ˈkrɪs tiˌɑn/, 1629–95, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Huygens in a sentence

  • It was discovered in 1656 by Huyghens, who counted twelve stars in the pale cloud.

    Astronomy for Amateurs | Camille Flammarion
  • It is allowed, however, that it is Huyghens who first made those watches which went without strings or chains.

    The Old Furniture Book | N. Hudson Moore
  • Two others were made and sent to the Dauphin of France, where Huyghens had obtained a patent for spiral-spring watches.

    The Old Furniture Book | N. Hudson Moore
  • The dark triangular projection in the lower half of the second drawing was seen and sketched by Huyghens, 1659 A. D.

    A Text-Book of Astronomy | George C. Comstock
  • It remained for the mechanical ingenuity of Huyghens to construct a satisfactory pendulum clock.

British Dictionary definitions for Huygens

Huygens

/ (ˈhaɪɡənz, Dutch ˈhœixəns) /


noun
  1. Christiaan (ˈkristiːˌaːn). 1629–95, Dutch physicist: first formulated the wave theory of light

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for Huygens

Huygens

[ gənz, hoigĕns ]


  1. Dutch physicist and astronomer who in 1655 discovered Saturn's rings and its fourth satellite, using a telescope he constructed with his brother. In 1657 he built the first pendulum clock. Huygens also proposed that light consists of transverse waves that vibrate up and down perpendicular to the direction in which the light travels. This theory, which explained some properties of light better than Newton's theory, was made public in 1690.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.