Meanings
comparative more Medicean · superlative most Medicean
- historicalastronomyDesignating the four largest moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), as named by Galileo in honour of his future patron Cosimo II de' Medici.First known use 17th c.
Four Medicean stars dance about Jupiter, two Austrian about Saturn, etc., and all (belike) to the music of the spheres.
1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, III.2.2.iv1 more example
Evelyn recorded a suggestion that the Society might take as its coat of arms a representation of a pair of crossed telescopes surmounted by the Medicean planets.
2015, David Wootton, The Invention of Science, Penguin, published 2016, page 296 - Pertaining to the Medici family.First known use 17th c.
Origin
- LatinMediceus
- EnglishMedicean
From post-classical Latin Mediceus (16th century; from the family name Medici) + -an.
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Anagrams
Cite this entry
Medicean. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Medicean
“Medicean.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Medicean. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Medicean,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Medicean.
Source: Medicean on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.