radius

Latin noun

Last edited: 2024-02-05
Primary meaning ray
Literal translation ray
Variants
radius
Edited by

ray astrological concept

sed et ambo lamina, id est Sol et Luna, radios suos in hoc signum miserint

‘and the luminaries-the Sun and Moon-send their rays toward this sign.’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 3.1.18

Genre: astrological compendium
Provenance: Sicily
Date: ca. 334 CE

Firmicus Maternus. 1897. Ivlii Firmici Materni Matheseos Libri VIII, ed. W. Kroll, F. Skutsch. Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner. 1.96-97


ray meteorological phenomenon

Necesse est ergo, in magna copia corpusculorum quae terrae eiectant et in superiorem agunt partem, aliqua in nubes pervenire alimenta ignium, quae non tantum collisa possint ardere sed etiam afflata radiis solis;

‘In the great quantity of particles which the earth ejects and forces into the upper air it is necessary, therefore, that some nutriments of fire reach the clouds, which not only can burn in colliding but even when breathed on by rays of the sun.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 1.1.8

Genre: philosophy
Date: 62/63 CE

Seneca. Natural Questions, Volume I: Books 1-3. Translated by Thomas H. Corcoran. Loeb Classical Library 450. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. 18-19


Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). radius (Lemma #1060). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1060/

Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). radius (Lemma #1060). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1060/

MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). radius (Lemma #1060). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1060/

Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) radius (Lemma #1060), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1060/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).

BibTeX
@misc{zodiac1060,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {radius ({Lemma} #1060)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1060/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1060/},
}