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| I LIKE POINTY THINGS. | |||
| {{for|the X-Files episode|Syzygy (The X-Files)}} | |||
| {{wiktionary}} | |||
| In broadest terms, '''Syzygy''' ({{IPAEng|ˈsɪzɪʤi}}) is a kind of unity, especially through coordination or alignment, most commonly used in the ] and/or ] sense.<ref name="dictionary"></ref> ''Syzygy'' is derived from the ] {{lang|la|syzygia}}, "conjunction," from the ] {{lang|el|σύζυγος}} (''{{lang|el-Latn|syzygos}}''). | |||
| '''Syzygia''', adjective of Syzygy, describes the alignment of three or more ] in the same gravitational system along a straight line. | |||
| ==Usage in academia== | |||
| ===Astronomy=== | |||
| In ], a syzygy is the alignment of three or more ] in the same gravitational system along a straight line. The word is usually used in context with the ], ], and the ] or a ], where the latter is in ] or ]. ] and ] ]s occur at times of syzygy, as do ] and ]s. The term is also applied to each instance of ] or ] when Sun and Moon are in conjunction or opposition, even though they are not precisely on one line with the Earth. | |||
| The word 'syzygy' is often loosely used to describe interesting configurations of planets in general. For example, one such case occurred on ], ] at around 23:00 UTC, when ] transited the ] as seen from ], and Mercury and Venus both simultaneously transited the Sun as seen from ]. It is also used to describe situations when all the planets are on the same side of the Sun although they are not necessarily found along a straight line, such as on ], ]. | |||
| ===Gnosticism=== | |||
| In ], a ''syzygy'' is a divine active-passive, male-female pair of ], complementary to one another rather than oppositional; in their totality they comprise the divine realm of the ], and in themselves characterise aspects of the unknowable Gnostic ]. The term is most common in ]. | |||
| ===Mathematics=== | |||
| In ], a syzygy is a relation between the generators of a ] M. The set of all such relations is called the "first syzygy module of M." A relation between generators of the first syzygy module is called a "second syzygy" of M, and the set of all such relations is called the "second syzygy module of M." Continuing in this way, we get the n-th syzygy module of M by taking the set of all relations between generators of the (n-1)<sup>th</sup> syzygy module of M. If M is finitely generated over a ] over a ], this process terminates after a finite number of steps; i.e., eventually there will be no more syzygies (see ]). The syzygy modules of M are not unique, for they depend on the choice of generators at each step. | |||
| ===Medicine=== | |||
| In ], the term is used to signify the fusion of some or all of the organs. | |||
| ===Music=== | |||
| Syzygy was the name of the electronic music duo that recorded for ] and Infonet Records in the 1990s. ] and Justin Mackay produced a hybrid of techno, ambient and electronica culminating in the cult album "Morphic Resonance". | |||
| Syzygy is the name of a composition written by Michael Brecker, can be found on the album titled: Michael Brecker. | |||
| Syzygy is also the name of a 1998 CD made by the band ]. It is a project led by former ] bandmember and guitar virtuoso ], and a composition by the late tenor saxophonist ] of his self titled album. | |||
| ===Philosophy=== | |||
| In ], the Russian theologian/philosopher ] (1853–1900) used the word "syzygy" to signify "unity-friendship-community," used as either an adjective or a noun, meaning: | |||
| *a pair of connected or correlative things, or | |||
| *a couple or pair of opposites. | |||
| ===Poetry=== | |||
| In ], ''syzygy'' is the combination of two ] ] into a single unit, similar to an ]. | |||
| ]al or ] syzygy is also similar to the effect of ], where one consonant is used repeatedly throughout a passage, but not necessarily at the beginning of each word. | |||
| ===Psychology===<!-- This section is linked from ] --> | |||
| In ], ] used the term "syzygy" to denote an ] pairing of ] opposites, which symbolized the communication of the conscious and unconscious minds: the conjunction of two organisms without the loss of identity. | |||
| ===College Sports=== | |||
| ] 's competitive women's ] team was formed in 1982 and changed its name to Syzygy in 1983 <ref>SYZYGY - </ref>. They are highly competitive at the national level and in 2007 tied for 5th place in the nation in the ] championships at Columbus, OH. <ref>UPA Score Reporter - </ref> | |||
| ===Zoology=== | |||
| In ], ''syzygy'' is | |||
| * the association of two protozoa end-to-end or laterally for the purpose of ] exchange of ] material, | |||
| * the pairing of ]s in ] | |||
| ==Usage in popular culture== | |||
| ===Books=== | |||
| ''Syzygy'' in ]s: | |||
| * ''Syzygy'', a ] ] novel by ] | |||
| * ''Syzygy'', a ] ] novel by ] (Save for the concept of aligned planetary bodies, Pohl's novel is completely unrelated to Coney's.) | |||
| * ''The Perfect Host'', a ] ] novella by ] | |||
| * ''It Wasn't Syzygy'', a ] ] short story by ] | |||
| * ''Syzygy'', a ] ] short story by ] (privately published) | |||
| ===Broadway=== | |||
| ''Syzygy'' is the word Rona Lisa Peretti spelled correctly when she won the Putnam Spelling Bee as a child in the musical ]. | |||
| ===Candles=== | |||
| Circa 1971, ''Syzygy'' was used by a candle company in California. (See "Video games", below.) | |||
| ===Comic books=== | |||
| ''Syzygy'' in ]s: | |||
| *] is a key character in the ] ], premier title of ]. | |||
| *Syzygy is a ] by Alicorn. | |||
| *For a brief period in the ] comics, Strange invoked the syzygy of all planets to tap into "catastrophe magic." | |||
| ===Computer software=== | |||
| ''Syzygy'' is a ] grid ] for PC clusters, tele-collaboration, and multimedia supercomputing.<ref name="grid"></ref> It was also a project management package available in the early 1990s. | |||
| (See also video games, under "games", below.) | |||
| ===Film=== | |||
| A major plot point in the film '']'' concerns a planetary alignment taking place every 5,000 years, during which a magic item, The Triangle of Light, can be utilized. To preserve a fictional environment, the exact chronology of this alignment is not given except the date of the first phase, ]. | |||
| The setting for the film '']'' is a fictional moon that undergoes a prolonged period of complete solar eclipse every 22 years when it is aligned with its parent planet. | |||
| ===Games=== | |||
| ''Syzygy'' is the name of a word ] made by Little Fish Industries.<ref>[http://www.playsyzygy.com/ playsyzygy.com</ref> It is also the highest scoring word that can be played in Scrabble without using an a, e, i, o, or u.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} | |||
| ====Video games==== | |||
| ''Syzygy Engineering'' was the first choice of name ] and ] had used (in ]) for their new ] company, which was incorporated as ] in ]. They claimed the name had already been registered by another Californian company (a candle company owned by a ] ]<ref>]</ref>). The term "Syzygy Engineered" appeared first associated with their Nutting Inc. released ]<ref name="computerspace"></ref> and later on Atari's first product, the coin-operated '']'' game. | |||
| The is a ] development company active during the mid 1990s that developed classic ] games. | |||
| ''Syzygy'' ]: | |||
| * is an ], now referred to as ]. (See also the .) | |||
| * ''Syzygy'' was the name of a ]-inspired graphical ] published by ] for the ] computers in ]. | |||
| Use of ''syzygy'' within ] environments: | |||
| * ''Syzygy'' is the name of a ] in ], ], ] and a playable character in ]. | |||
| * A ''syzygy'' was a major plot point in the ] game ]. | |||
| * ''SyzYgY'' is the name of a Minnesota-based pseudo-professional gamer best known for his performance on the team Powers Gaming, ]-Invite and ] 2005 champions. | |||
| The parameter ''syzygy'' enables the cheats in the ] version of ]. | |||
| ===Social Activism=== | |||
| ''Syzygy'' is the name of the annual meeting of all national branches of ], a US volunteer service organization operated under the ] umbrella. | |||
| ===Television=== | |||
| "]" is the name of a ] episode of the ] mystery TV show '']''. The alignment of ], ] and ] happens at the same time several murder cases occur in a small town. ] agents ] and ] investigate in a climate of fear and mob mentality. | |||
| A skit in a ] episode of '']'' featured "syzygy" as a spelling bee word which is asked to ] (]) by host ]. When she asks for the word's usage in a sentence, Giuliani replies, "Sure. Your spelling bee word is 'syzygy'." | |||
| On the 18 April 2007 episode of '']'', Stephen Colbert used "syzygy" in its poetic sense – after ] and ] – as part of a threat made against actor ], in preparation for the next night's "Metaphor Off" between the two. | |||
| ===Wine=== | |||
| Syzygy is the name of a winery located in ], ]. | |||
| ===Business Names=== | |||
| Syzygy is used as a Company name by a number of companies across the world. For example, in Australia , which consists of Syzygy Consulting, Syzygy People and Syzygy Technology. Also in the UK and Germany, is a website design agency. | |||
| ==Unusual Spelling== | |||
| ''Syzygy'' is the shortest English word containing three ''y'''s. It is also the second-longest common English word containing neither ''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', nor ''u'', being tied with ''rhythm''. (The longest common word with this characteristic is ''rhythms'', although it is beaten handily by the archaic word ''twyndyllyngs''.) See ]. | |||
| ==References== | |||
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Revision as of 16:28, 15 August 2008
I LIKE POINTY THINGS.