finis

Latin noun

Last edited: 2024-04-16
Primary meaning term
Literal translation end
Variants
finis
Edited by
term astrological concept

tamen partes eius quasi propriae stellis singulis dividuntur, quae partes fines stellarum nominantur

‘yet the degrees of this sign are divided among all the planets, and these degrees are called the "terms" of the planets’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 2.6.1

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. 1.46

orbit astronomical term

quis foret humano conatus pectore tantum, invitis ut dis cuperet deus ipse videri, sublimis aperire vias imumque sub orbem, et per inane suis parentia finibus astra?

‘Who of but human understanding would have essayed so great a task as to wish against heaven’s wish to appear a god himself; to reveal paths on high and paths beneath the bottom of the earth and stars obedient to appointed orbits through the void?’

— Manilius, Astronomica 1.28 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 6-7

region astronomical term

of the sky

Restat ut aetherios fines tibi reddere coner filaque dispositis vicibus comitantia caelum, per quae derigitur signorum flammeus ordo.

‘I have still to try to expound to you the regions of the sky and the lines marking heaven at fixed intervals through which are directed the fiery ranks of the constellations.’

— Manilius, Astronomica 1.562 ff

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 48-49

aestivosque secat fines Aquilamque supinam temporaque aequantem gyrum

‘it [= the Milky Way] cuts the summer boundary, the supine Eagle, the circle of equal day and night’

— Manilius, Astronomica 1.688 f

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 58-59

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). finis (Lemma #937). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/937/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). finis (Lemma #937). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/937/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). finis (Lemma #937). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/937/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) finis (Lemma #937), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/937/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac937,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {finis ({Lemma} #937)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/937/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/937/},
}