Κάνωβος
Kanōbos

Greek noun

Last edited: 2025-02-28
Primary meaning Canopus (α Carinae)
Literal translation Canopus
Variants
Κάνωβος Kanōbos
Κάνοβος Kanobos
Κάνωπος Kanōpos
Edited by
Canopus (α Carinae) star, part of constellation

part of Argo

Ὁ δὲ ἐν ἄκρῳ τῷ πηδαλίῳ τῆς Ἀργοῦς κείμενος λαμπρὸς ἀστὴρ Κάνωβος ὀνομάζεται· οὗτος μὲν ἐν Ῥόδῳ δυσθεώρητός ἐστιν ἢ παντελῶς ἀφ’ ὑψηλῶν τόπων ὀρᾶται· ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ δέ ἐστι παντελῶς ἐκφανής· σχεδόν γὰρ δʹον μέρος ζῳδίου ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁρίζοντος μετεωρισμένος φαίνεται.

‘The bright star lying on the topmost rudder of the Argo is named Canopus; it is hard to observe in Rhodes or completely seen from high places (only); but in Alexandria it is completely showing itself: for it appears almost a 4th part of a zodiac sign (i.e., 7.5 degrees) elevated from the horizon.’

— Geminus 3.15

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 20

Some manuscripts have the variant Κάνοβος or Κάνωπος.
Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T. (2025). Κάνωβος (Lemma #2912). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2912/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T. (2025). Κάνωβος (Lemma #2912). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2912/
MLA (9th)
Peeters, T. (2025). Κάνωβος (Lemma #2912). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2912/
Harvard
Peeters, T. (2025) Κάνωβος (Lemma #2912), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2912/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac2912,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas},
	year = {2025},
	title = {Κάνωβος ({Lemma} #2912)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2912/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2912/},
}