2021-05-11 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – A – astrology & astronomy

Revision A

2021-05-11

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – A – astrology & astronomy

แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น

ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค

Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง astrology = ‘uh-STROL-uh-jee’

ออกเสียง astronomy = ‘uh-STRON-uh-mee’

OTHER WORDS FROM ASTROLOGY

as·trol·o·ger as·trol·o·gist, noun

as·tro·log·i·cal [a-struh-loj-i-kuhl], adj.    

as·tro·log·ic, as·trol·o·gous [uh-strol-uh-guhs],

as·tro·log·i·cal·ly, adverb [uh-strE-la-ji-k (E)-le’

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

The Difference Between Astronomy and Astrology

Some may find it easy to confuse astronomy and astrology.

Atone time, these two words actually were synonymous

(that is, astronomy once meant what astrology means today),

butthey have since moved apart from each other.

In current use, astronomy is concerned with

“the study of objects and matter outside the earth's atmosphere,”

while astrology is the purported

divination of how stars and planets influence our lives.

Put bluntly, astronomy isa science, and astrology is not.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Usage Notes

Is It'Astrology' or 'Astronomy'?

The difference is written in the stars.

The English language

canoften feel like

it's been put together with the explicit goal of creating confusion,

rather thanfacilitating communication.

Why elsewould we allow

such pairsof nearly-synonymous words as

flammable and inflammable,

personate and impersonate, and

habitable and inhabitable

to existwith such similar meanings?

In addition to these tricky pairs,

we also have a number of words

whichstarted out meaning much the same thing,

buthave grown weary of each other and semantically divorced.

In spite of the fact that

they might now have meaningswhich are quite different,

such words very often remain difficult for many people to tell apart.

A fine example of this may be found with astrology and astronomy.

Both words are quite old

(astronomy is from the 12th century, and astrology from the 14th),

and both share a root with the word disaster

(the Greek astron, meaning “star”).

In modern use the two words have quite different meanings,

but for hundreds of years they were synonymous.

We define astronomy as

“the study of objects and matter outside the earth's atmosphere

and of their physical and chemical properties”;

this is the word scientists use,

and the word you would expect to see

on the cover of your college textbook.

Astrology is defined as

“the divination of the supposed

influencesof the stars and planets

onhuman affairs and terrestrial events

bytheir positions and aspects.”

The word supposed inthe definition for astrology

performsmultiple functions:

it indicates thatthe claims made by astrologers

are widely viewed asunscientific,

and it also standsas a placeholder for the screams of anguish

fromthousands of science teachers

whenstudents confuse astronomy and astrology.

We understand that

it can bedifficult to remember the difference between two such words,

bothof which begin with the same letters

and have meanings concerned with outer-space-stuff.

It may help you to distinguish between them

ifyou remember that astrology is related to astrologaster,

a now obsolete word that was once a derogatory term

forone who purported to study the stars.

If some silly Astrologaster, or Figure-flinger,

do but hit in one thing of twenty,

he is presently cryed up for a Cunning man;

but let the Physitian work six hundred cures,

yet if through the impatience of his Patient,

he fail but in one, that one fail doth more turn to his discredit.
— John Spencer, Kaina Kai Palaia, Things Old and New, 1658

When used as a suffix, -aster

means“one that is inferior or not genuine,”

and its use was by no means restricted to astrologaster.

So, in the event that repetition

will help you cement your knowledge of what astrology is,

here are anotherhalf-dozen more obscure and petty insults

you may find more useful than picking on a horoscope writer.

Politicaster - a petty or contemptible politician

Poetaster - an inferior poet

Criticaster - an inferior or petty critic

Medicaster - a medical charlatan

Philologaster - an incompetent philologist

Theologaster - a shallow theologian

In summary:
Do you have trouble telling the difference between astronomy and astrology,

and worry that someone will laugh at you for mixing them up?

Relax; many people findthis distinction confusing

(and for hundreds of years the two words had the same meaning).

In current use

astronomy isthe science word,

and astrology isthe non-scientific practice.

The A-Z of Correct English Common Errors in English Dictionary

Astrology& astronomy

ASTROLOGY is the study of the influence of the stars and planets

onhuman life and fortune.

ASTRONOMY is the scientific study of the stars and planets.