scio-, sci-, scia-

(Greek: shade, shadow; ghost)


amphiscian (s); amphiscians , amphiscii (pl)
1. A name given to inhabitants of the torrid zone, where shadows in one part of the year are cast to the north, and in the other part of the year to the south, depending on when the sun is south or north of their zenith.
2. An inhabitant of the tropics, where the shadow of the sun falls in different ways according to the time of year.
antiscian (s) (noun), antiscians (pl)
Inhabitants or people of the Earth who are living on different sides of the equator and whose shadows at noon are cast in opposite directions.
ascian (s) (noun); ascians, ascii (pl)
A person or something that is found close to the Equator and is without a shadow when the sun is directly over them or when the clouds prevent the sunshine from appearing.
heliosciophyte (s) (noun), heliosciophytes (pl)
A plant which thrives in both sunlight and shade, but which grows best in sunny conditions.
sciagram (s) (noun), sciagrams (pl)
A shadow-picture; such as, a radiograph or X-ray photograph.
sciagraph (s) (noun), sciagraphs (pl)
1. A shadow of a vertical section of a building or buildings.d
2. The representation of a building, showing its interior structures or arrangements.
sciagraphy (s) (noun), sciagraphies (pl)
The natural process of projecting or delineating shadows as they occur in nature.
scialytic (adjective), more scialytic, most scialytic
Pertaining to measurements of time by shadows: Sundials are one example of presenting the use of scialytic forms to presentl what time it is.
sciamachy, skiamachy (s) (noun), sciamachies, skiamachies (pl)
1. A sham or a false fighting for exercise or practice: Mary found Jack in his room at home doing sciamachy, or in other words, he was taking part in a skirmish against an imaginary foe!
2. The action of combating with a shadow or "shadow-boxing": When doing sciamachy, Sam prepared himself physically in which punches are thrown in the air, and at no one in particular.
3. Battles with imaginary enemies: Often a war on terror is pure sciamachy because we usually don't know who the enemy is, we have no defined conditions of victory, and it can't be a war as such because that is a conflict between nations.
4. Etymology: Greek skiamakhia, from skia, “shadow or shade”+ makhe, “battle”.
Combat with an imaginary foe.
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sciametry (s) (noun), sciametries (pl)
The measurements or sizes to which shadows are determined.
sciascope (s) (noun), sciascopes (pl)
A device used for determining the refractive state of the eyes by observing the movements of the retinal lights and shadows.
sciascopy (s) (noun), sciascopies (pl)
A method of detecting errors of refraction of the eyes by illuminating the retinas and noting the direction of light movements on the retinal surfaces.
sciatheric (adjective), more sciatheric, most sciatheric
Pertaining or referring to a sun-dial or an instrument that indicates the time by the position of a shadow cast by the sun on the face of a dial which is marked in hours.
sciomancy (s) (noun), sciomancies (pl)
Divination or fortune telling by interpreting the various shapes of shadows.
sciomantic (adjective), more sciomantic, most sciomantic
Divination through communication with the spirits or shadows of the dead.