"Newton's apple" meaning in All languages combined

See Newton's apple on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: Newton's apples [plural]
Etymology: After the story that English scientist Isaac Newton was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree. Head templates: {{en-noun}} Newton's apple (plural Newton's apples)
  1. Something that acts as a source of inspiration or triggers an important realization for someone. Wikipedia link: Isaac Newton, Isaac Newton#Apple incident Categories (topical): Gravity

Inflected forms

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  "etymology_text": "After the story that English scientist Isaac Newton was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Newton's apples",
      "tags": [
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Newton's apple (plural Newton's apples)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "name": "Copernican Revolution",
          "orig": "en:Copernican Revolution",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Gravity",
          "orig": "en:Gravity",
          "parents": [
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            "Astrophysics",
            "Mechanics",
            "Physics",
            "Astronomy",
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            "Nature",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
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          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Isaac Newton",
          "orig": "en:Isaac Newton",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1913, Archibald Allan, Space and Personality, Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, page 204:",
          "text": "The 'perfect fluid' which Lord Kelvin desiderated, is an instance that scientists are on the outlook for something that will serve as a Newton's apple to lead them to the larger truth which urges birth from their instincts of faith.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Yuri Tsivian, “The Gesture of Revolution or Misquoting as Device”, in Annie van den Oever, editor, Ostrannenie: On \"Strangeness\" and the Moving Image: The History, Reception, and Relevance of a Concept, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, →ISBN, page 25:",
          "text": "Shortly afterwards, in a book called Stupeni. Tekst khudozhnika [Steps. An Artist's Text] published in 1918 in Moscow, Kandinsky wrote about himself as the original discoverer of abstract painting and, as is the custom of discoverers, recounted what precisely became his Newton's apple.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something that acts as a source of inspiration or triggers an important realization for someone."
      ],
      "id": "en-Newton's_apple-en-noun-4Vjlh-LA",
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      "wikipedia": [
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      ]
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  ],
  "word": "Newton's apple"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "After the story that English scientist Isaac Newton was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Newton's apples",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Newton's apple (plural Newton's apples)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "lang_code": "en",
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  "senses": [
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        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
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        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Copernican Revolution",
        "en:Gravity",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1913, Archibald Allan, Space and Personality, Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, page 204:",
          "text": "The 'perfect fluid' which Lord Kelvin desiderated, is an instance that scientists are on the outlook for something that will serve as a Newton's apple to lead them to the larger truth which urges birth from their instincts of faith.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Yuri Tsivian, “The Gesture of Revolution or Misquoting as Device”, in Annie van den Oever, editor, Ostrannenie: On \"Strangeness\" and the Moving Image: The History, Reception, and Relevance of a Concept, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, →ISBN, page 25:",
          "text": "Shortly afterwards, in a book called Stupeni. Tekst khudozhnika [Steps. An Artist's Text] published in 1918 in Moscow, Kandinsky wrote about himself as the original discoverer of abstract painting and, as is the custom of discoverers, recounted what precisely became his Newton's apple.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something that acts as a source of inspiration or triggers an important realization for someone."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "inspiration",
          "inspiration"
        ],
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          "realization",
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        ]
      ],
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        "Isaac Newton#Apple incident"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Newton's apple"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Newton's apple meaning in All languages combined (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (df33d17 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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