genus

Latin noun

Last edited: 2024-10-17
Primary meaning gender
Literal translation gender
Variants
genus
Edited by
gender astrological concept, zodiac sign quality

Horum signorum diversa sunt genera, nam alia sunt ex his masculina, alia feminina

‘These signs are of different gender, some masculine, some feminine’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 2.1.2

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. 1.41

properties astrological concept

of a zodiac sign

parte genus variant et vires linea mutat.

‘The signs vary their nature according to their quarter of the sky, and a line which joins them likewise suffers change of its strength.’

— Manilius, Astronomica 2.645

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 132-133

class of stellar magnitude astronomical concept

tum quartum sextumque genus discernitur omni e numero, summamque gradus qui iungit utramque

‘Then out of all the remaining stars one distinguishes a fourth class and a sixth, and the degree which lies between these two magnitudes’

— Manilius, Astronomica 5.716 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 360-361

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). genus (Lemma #914). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/914/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). genus (Lemma #914). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/914/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). genus (Lemma #914). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/914/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) genus (Lemma #914), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/914/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac914,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {genus ({Lemma} #914)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/914/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/914/},
}