adj. hist.
1. of or relating to Ptolemy, a 2nd-c. Alexandrian astronomer, or his theories.
2 of or relating to the Ptolemies, Macedonian rulers of Egypt from the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) to the death of Cleopatra (30 BC).
Phrases and idioms:
Ptolemaic system the theory that the earth is the stationary centre of the Universe (cf. COPERNICAN SYSTEM).
Etymology: L Ptolemaeus f. Gk Ptolemaios