brumalis

Latin adjective

Last edited: 2025-12-04
Primary meaning of the winter solstice
Literal translation of the winter solstice
Variants
brumalis
Edited by
of the winter solstice

Tres autem circuli supra dictis zonis inplexi inaequalitates temporum distingunt, solstitialis a parte signiferi excelsissima nobis ad septentrionalem plagam versus, contraque ad alium polum brumalis, item medio ambitu signiferi orbis incedens aequinoctialis.

‘But the three circles intertwined between the zones aforesaid are the cause of the differences of the seasons: the Tropic of Cancer on the side of the highest part of the zodiac to the northward of us, and opposite to it the Tropic of Capricorn towards the other pole, and also the equator that runs in the middle circuit of the zodiac.’

— Pliny, Natural History 2.177

Genre: encyclopedia
Provenance: Rome
Date: 77-79 CE

Pliny. Natural History, Volume I: Books 1-2. Translated by H. Rackham. Loeb Classical Library 330. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1938.

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). brumalis (Lemma #6087). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/6087/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). brumalis (Lemma #6087). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/6087/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). brumalis (Lemma #6087). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/6087/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2025) brumalis (Lemma #6087), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/6087/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac6087,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2025},
	title = {brumalis ({Lemma} #6087)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/6087/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/6087/},
}