διάστημα
diastēma

Greek noun

Last edited: 2025-02-05
Primary meaning interval
Literal translation interval
Variants
διάστημα diastēma
Edited by
interval spatial concept

Διχῶς δὲ λέγεται ζῴδιον, καθ’ ἕνα μὲν τρόπον τὸ ιβʹον μέρος τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ κύκλου, ὅ ἐστι διάστημά τι τόπου ἢ ἄστροις ἢ σημείοις ἀφοριζόμενον, καθ’ ἕτερον δὲ τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἀστέρων εἰδωλοπεποιημένον κατὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα καὶ τὴν θέσιν τῶν ἀστέρῶν.

‘The word “zōidion” is uttered in two ways, according to one way as the 12th part of the zodiac, which is some interval of space marked off by either stars or points, and according to the other as the image formed from the stars according to the likeness and the position of the stars.’

— Geminus 1.3

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T. (2025). διάστημα (Lemma #1111). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1111/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T. (2025). διάστημα (Lemma #1111). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1111/
MLA (9th)
Peeters, T. (2025). διάστημα (Lemma #1111). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1111/
Harvard
Peeters, T. (2025) διάστημα (Lemma #1111), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1111/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac1111,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas},
	year = {2025},
	title = {διάστημα ({Lemma} #1111)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1111/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1111/},
}