imus

Latin adjective

Last edited: 2024-11-25
Primary meaning lowest
Literal translation lowest
Variants
imus
Edited by
lowest expression of relative position

Ceterum non est illi palam cursus; altiora mundi secat et tunc demum apparet cum in imum cursus sui venit.

‘On the other hand, its orbit is not clear. A comet cuts through the upper regions of the universe and then finally becomes visible when it reaches the lowest point of its orbit.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 7.17.2

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. 262-263

below the horizon

quis foret humano conatus pectore tantum, invitis ut dis cuperet deus ipse videri, sublimis aperire vias imumque sub orbem, et per inane suis parentia finibus astra?

‘Who of but human understanding would have essayed so great a task as to wish against heaven’s wish to appear a god himself; to reveal paths on high and paths beneath the bottom of the earth and stars obedient to appointed orbits through the void?’

— Manilius, Astronomica 1.28 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 6-7

south celestial pole cardinal point

sed quia per medium est tellus suspensa profundum, binis a summo signis discedit et imo.

‘But since the Earth is suspended in the middle of space, it is two signs separated from the north pole and two from the south.’

— Manilius, Astronomica 1.550 f

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 48-49

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). imus (Lemma #1899). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1899/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). imus (Lemma #1899). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1899/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). imus (Lemma #1899). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1899/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) imus (Lemma #1899), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1899/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac1899,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {imus ({Lemma} #1899)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1899/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1899/},
}