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cosmogony - 5 dictionary results

cos⋅mog⋅o⋅ny

  [koz-mog-uh-nee]
Use cosmogony in a Sentence
–noun, plural -nies.
a theory or story of the origin and development of the universe, the solar system, or the earth-moon system.
Origin:
1860–65; < Gk kosmogonía creation of the world. See cosmo-, -gony

Related forms:
cos⋅mog⋅o⋅nal, cos⋅mo⋅gon⋅ic  [koz-muh-gon-ik] , cos⋅mo⋅gon⋅i⋅cal, adjective
cos⋅mog⋅o⋅nist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cos·mog·o·ny   (kŏz-mŏg'ə-nē)   
n.   pl. cos·mog·o·nies
  1. The astrophysical study of the origin and evolution of the universe.
  2. A specific theory or model of the origin and evolution of the universe.
cos'mo·gon'ic (-mə-gŏn'ĭk), cos'mo·gon'i·cal adj., cos'mo·gon'i·cal·ly adv., cos·mog'o·nist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cosmogony

Cos*mog"o*ny\ (-n?), n.; pl. Cosmogonies (-n?z). [Gr. kosmogoni`a; ko`smos the world + root of gi`gnesthai to be born: cf. F. cosmogonie.] The creation of the world or universe; a theory or account of such creation; as, the poetical cosmogony of Hesoid; the cosmogonies of Thales, Anaxagoras, and Plato.

The cosmogony or creation of the world has puzzled philosophers of all ages. --Goldsmith.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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cosmogony   (kŏz-mŏg'ə-nē)  Pronunciation Key 
The branch of cosmology that studies the origin of the universe and the larger objects found within it, such as the solar system.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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cosmogony

in astronomy, study of the evolutionary behaviour of the universe and the origin of its characteristic features. For scientific theories on the unsolved problem of the origin of the solar system, see planetesimal; protoplanet; solar nebula. For an outline of the development of astronomical ideas regarding the structure of the universe, see cosmology; for theories on the origin of the universe, see big-bang model; steady-state theory

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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