cauda serpentis

Latin noun

Last edited: 2025-01-31
Primary meaning Dragon's tail
Literal translation tail of the serpent
Variants
cauda serpentis
serpentis cauda
Edited by
Dragon's tail animal part, group of stars and constellations

part of Draco

alter ab excelso decurrens limes Olympo Serpentis caudam siccas et dividit Arctos et iuga Chelarum medio volitantia gyro

‘One line [i.e. the equinoctial colure], descending from the summit of the sky, passes through the Dragon’s tail and the Bears that shun ocean, and the yoke of the Balance which revolves in the midmost circle.’

— Manilius, Astronomica 1.609 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 52-53

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). cauda serpentis (Lemma #2239). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2239/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). cauda serpentis (Lemma #2239). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2239/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). cauda serpentis (Lemma #2239). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2239/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2025) cauda serpentis (Lemma #2239), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2239/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac2239,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2025},
	title = {cauda serpentis ({Lemma} #2239)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2239/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2239/},
}