μῆκος

mēkos

Greek · noun

Edited by: Thomas Peeters , Kierán Meinhardt
Last edited: 2025-09-09

Meanings

1. longitude

2. right ascension

Literal translation

length

1. longitude

1.a longitude astronomical term, astronomical quantity, spatial concept

Στίλβων ὁ τοῦ Ἑρμο[ῦ] ἀστ[ήρ, ὁ] τὴ[ν] ζώ- νην τοῦ ἀέρος λελογχώς εὑρέθη [τὴ]ν κα- τὰ μῆκος κείνησιν ποιούμενος ἐ[ν] ζῳδίῳ [...] Αἰγόκερῳ

‘Stilbon, the star of Mercury, which has been allotted the belt of the air, has been found making its longitudinal motion in the [...] sign Capricorn’

— P. Oxy. LXI 4277 i. 2-5

Genre: horoscope Provenance: Oxyrhynchus

Jones, A. (ed.), 1999. Astronomical papyri from Oxyrhynchus (P. Oxy. 4133-4300a), Volumes I and II. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. II: 420-421

2. right ascension

2.a right ascension spatial concept, astronomical term

Ὁ Στέφανος ἐν τῷ βορείῳ ἡμισφαιρίῳ κείμενος κατὰ μῆκος μὲν ἐπέχει μο θʹ καὶ δʹʹ ἀπὸ τῆς αʹ μο τοῦ Σκορπίου ἕως ιʹ <καὶ> δʹʹ μο τοῦ αὐτοῦ ζῳδίου. Κατὰ πλάτος δ’ ἐπέχει μο ϛʹ 𐅵 καὶ δʹ ἀπὸ μθʹ μο ἀπὸ τοῦ βορείου πόλου ἕως μο νεʹ 𐅵 καὶ δʹ.

‘Corona Borealis, lying in the northern hemisphere, as for length spans 9 deg and ¼ from the 1st deg of Scorpio until 10 <and> ¼ deg of the same zodiac sign. And as for breadth, it spans 6, ½ and ¼ deg from 49 deg from the North Pole until 55, ½ and ¼ deg.’

— Codex Climaci Rescriptus 48r

Genre: star list

Gysembergh, V., Williams, P.J. and Zingg, E., 2022. New evidence for Hipparchus’ Star Catalogue revealed by multispectral imaging, Journal for the History of Astronomy 53 (4): 383-393. 386

Note that “6, ½ and ¼” is used to indicate “6 and ¾”, and similarly “55, ½ and ¼” is used to indicate “55 and ¾”. The text systematically uses an abbreviation μο (with the ο written above the μ) of μοῖρα to indicate degrees, here translated as deg.

Cite this entry

APA (7th)

Peeters, T., & Meinhardt, K. (2025). μῆκος (Lemma #2639). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2639/

Chicago (Author-Date)

Peeters, T., & Meinhardt, K. (2025). μῆκος (Lemma #2639). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2639/

MLA (9th)

Peeters, T., & Meinhardt, K. (2025). μῆκος (Lemma #2639). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2639/

Harvard

Peeters, T. and Meinhardt, K. (2025) μῆκος (Lemma #2639), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2639/ (Accessed: July 4, 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{zodiac2639,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-07-04]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas and Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2025},
	title = {μῆκος ({Lemma} #2639)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2639/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2639/},
}