vertigo

Latin noun

Last edited: 2025-03-31
Primary meaning rotation
Literal translation whirling
Variants
vertigo
Edited by
rotation astronomical term

sed ad liquidum propter partium minutorumque brevitatem ac velocissimum siderum cursum caelique pronum rotatae vertiginis lapsum neminem pervenire posse confirmant

‘But they add that no one can get definite results because of the smallness of the degrees and minutes, the tremendous speed of the stars’ orbits, and the inclination of the heavens.’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 1.3.2

Genre: astrological compendium
Provenance: Sicily
Date: ca. 334 CE

Firmicus Maternus. 1897. Ivlii Firmici Materni Matheseos Libri VIII, ed. W. Kroll, F. Skutsch. Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner. 1.9

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). vertigo (Lemma #875). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/875/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). vertigo (Lemma #875). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/875/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). vertigo (Lemma #875). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/875/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2025) vertigo (Lemma #875), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/875/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac875,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2025},
	title = {vertigo ({Lemma} #875)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/875/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/875/},
}