bifer

Latin adjective

Last edited: 2024-09-23
Primary meaning double-bodied
Literal translation bearing fruit twice a year
Variants
bifer
Edited by
double-bodied astrological concept, zodiac sign quality

rare, poetic

At, quibus in bifero Centauri corpore sors est nascendi concessa, libet subiungere currus ardentis et equos ad mollia ducere frena

‘But they whose lot it is to be born under the Centaur of double form delight in yoking a team, in bringing a fiery horse to obey the pliant reins’

— Manilius, Astronomica 4.230 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 240-241

et biferum Cetos squamis atque ore tremendo

‘the Whale which with its scales and dread jaws has part of two creatures’

— Manilius, Astronomica 5.15

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 300-301

Cetus has the scaly tail (and rear) of a fish, the jaws (and front) of a land animal.
Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). bifer (Lemma #2412). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2412/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). bifer (Lemma #2412). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2412/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). bifer (Lemma #2412). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2412/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) bifer (Lemma #2412), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2412/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac2412,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {bifer ({Lemma} #2412)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2412/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2412/},
}