centaurus

Latin noun
loaned from Greek

Last edited: 2024-09-23
Primary meaning the Centaur
Literal translation centaur
Variants
centaurus
Edited by
the Centaur constellation

In Scorpii parte XII. oritur Centaurus.

‘At 12° Scorpio rises the Centaur.’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 8.13.2

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. 2.308

Sagittarius zodiac sign

inter utrumque manet Capricornus corpore mixto et qui Cretaeo fulget Centaurus in arcu, communisque Aries aequantem tempora Libram et Geminos Taurumque pari sub sorte recenset.

‘Between the two groups fall Capricorn of compound form and the Centaur who glitters with his Cretan bow; also intermediate is the Ram who counts of like estate the equinoctial Scales, the Twins, and the Bull.’

— Manilius, Astronomica 2.240 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 100-101

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). centaurus (Lemma #1484). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1484/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). centaurus (Lemma #1484). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1484/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). centaurus (Lemma #1484). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1484/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) centaurus (Lemma #1484), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1484/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac1484,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {centaurus ({Lemma} #1484)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1484/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1484/},
}