heliocentricism

Noun

heliocentrism (uncountable)

1. The theory that the Sun is the center of the universe.
   • Geocentrism has been displaced by heliocentrism. Heliocentrism, in turn, the claim of the sun, surrounded by its satellites, to a sovereign place in the heavens, has become ridiculous in the face of the wilderness of suns that people the abysses beyond us.1923, Felix Adler, "The Reconstruction of the Spiritual Ideal," American Ethical Union, 68.

   Synonyms:

   heliocentricity

   Antonyms:

   geocentrism

2. (informal) The phenomenon of the Earth revolving around the Sun.
   • You would think the practitioners of the dismal science of economics would look at their demand curves and the data on incomes and taxes and pronounce a verdict, the way Galileo and Copernicus did when they showed that geocentrism was a fantasy because the Earth revolves around the sun (known as...2012, David Cay Johnston, chapter 16, in Dean Starkman, Felix Salmon, Martha M. Hamilton, Ryan Chittum, editors, The Best Business Writing 2012, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 191