deficio

Latin verb

Last edited: 2024-09-02
Primary meaning to be waning
Literal translation to fail
Variants
deficio
Edited by
to wane lunar phase

Nam si deficientem Lunam deficiens Venus exceperit aut Mars in nocturna genitura, tunc prospera omnia deficiens Luna felicitatesque decernit

‘If Venus and Mars aspect the waning moon in a nocturnal chart, the waning Moon indicates all kinds of prosperity and good fortune’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 2.7.3

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. 1.49

to be eclipsed astronomical event

Non religionem incutit mentibus, et quidem publice, sive deficere sol visus est, sive luna (cuius obscuratio frequentior) aut parte sui aut tota delituit?

‘Does it not inspire religion in men’s minds, and even on a nationwide scale, if the sun is seen in eclipse, or the moon (whose eclipses are more frequent) is obscured in part or entirely?’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 6.3.3

Genre: philosophy
Date: 62/63 CE

Seneca. Natural Questions, Volume II: Books 4-7. Translated by Thomas H. Corcoran. Loeb Classical Library 457. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. 142-143

to be too low mathematical quantity

tricenas dabis ex illa per singula signa, donec deficiat numerus;

‘give thirty degrees of it to each sign, until the number fails [= is less than 30]’

— Manilius, Astronomica 3.499 f

Genre: astrological treatise

Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. 202-203

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). deficio (Lemma #941). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/941/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). deficio (Lemma #941). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/941/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). deficio (Lemma #941). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/941/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) deficio (Lemma #941), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/941/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac941,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {deficio ({Lemma} #941)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/941/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/941/},
}