circulus

Latin noun

Last edited: 2024-07-15
Primary meaning circle
Literal translation circle
Variants
circulus
Edited by
disk celestial object

Ob hoc omnia eiusmodi simulacra candida sunt et similia lunaribus circulis, quia ex percussu oblique accepto sole respondent.

‘For this reason all phenomena of this type are white and similar to moon-shaped discs, because they reflect bright light when they are struck obliquely by the sun.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 1.13.2

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. 72-73

circle mathematical figure

celestial circle of a certain altitude

Caelum autem dividitur in circulos quinque, qui per mundi cardines eunt: est septemtrionalis, est solstitialis, est aequinoctialis, est brumalis, est contrarius septemtrionali

‘The sky is divided into five circles which pass through the cardinal points of the universe. In these five circles are the northern circle, the summer solstitial circle, the equinoctial circle, the wintry circle, and the one that is opposite to the northern.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 5.17.2

Genre: philosophy
Date: 62/63 CE

Seneca. Natural Questions, Volume II: Books 4-7. Translated by Thomas H. Corcoran. Loeb Classical Library 457. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. 110-111

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). circulus (Lemma #1787). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1787/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). circulus (Lemma #1787). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1787/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). circulus (Lemma #1787). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1787/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) circulus (Lemma #1787), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1787/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac1787,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {circulus ({Lemma} #1787)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1787/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1787/},
}