Astronomical means to do with the stars, or enormously large. An astronomical price.
The figurative sense borrows the scale of space, where every number is beyond imagining. An astronomical unit is a real measure, being the distance from the earth to the sun.
1adjectiveastronomicalTo do with the stars, or enormously large.
“The cost of the repair was astronomical and the house was sold instead.”
astronomical is a quality.
Greek astronomikos comes from astron, a star, plus nomos, a law.
Ancient Greek
ἀστρονομικός
Latin
astronomicus
Middle French
astronomique
English, today
astronomical
Attested since at least 1550, from Middle French astronomique or directly from Latin astronomicus, from Ancient Greek ἀστρονομικός.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA