lampas

Latin noun
loaned from Greek

Last edited: 2025-05-26
Primary meaning "lamp" comet
Literal translation lamp
Variants
lampas
lampadias (for "lamp" comet)
Edited by
"lamp" comet celestial object

At quibus longior mora est et ignis fortior motumque caeli sequens aut etiam proprios cursus agunt, cometas nostri putant, de quibus dictum est. Horum genera sunt pogoniae et cyparissiae et lampades et alia omnia quorum ignis in exitu sparsus est.

‘But the ones which last a long time, and have a stronger flame, and follow the motion of the sky or even maintain their own course, our Stoics call comets (which have already been discussed). Types of these are: Bearded, Cypress Trees, and Lamps—as well as all the others which have fire scattered behind them as they go out.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 1.15.4

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. 78-79

lampadias ardentes imitatur faces

‘The ‘Torch-star’ resembles glowing torches’

— Pliny, Natural History 2.90

Genre: encyclopedia
Provenance: Rome
Date: 77-79 CE

Pliny. Natural History, Volume I: Books 1-2. Translated by H. Rackham. Loeb Classical Library 330. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1938.

star celestial object

succedit iniquo divisis spatio, quod terna lampade crispans conspicitur, paribus Deltoton nomine sidus ex simili dictum

‘There follows, with two equal sides parted by one unequal, a sign seen flashing with three stars and named Deltoton, called after its likeness.’

— Manilius, Astronomica 1.351 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 32-33

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). lampas (Lemma #1800). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1800/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). lampas (Lemma #1800). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1800/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). lampas (Lemma #1800). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1800/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2025) lampas (Lemma #1800), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1800/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac1800,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2025},
	title = {lampas ({Lemma} #1800)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1800/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1800/},
}