Gemini

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gemini,^[2] borrowed from Latin geminī (“twins”), also the Latin name of the constellation,^[3][4][5] the plural of geminus (“twin, double”),^[3][4][6][7] the source of geminate.^[4][2] The twins are Castor and Pollux, whose names also belong to the constellation's two brightest stars.^[4][8] Klein compares the Sanskrit, Avestan and Middle Irish words for "twin".^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The constellation and sign: in late Old English according to Etymonline and in Old English according to the Shorter Oxford.^[4][7] Hoad and Merriam-Webster date it to the 14th century,^[6][2] and the OED, in an entry not fully revised, quotes Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe of 1391.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes the former spellings gemeny, gemony and jeminy.^[4] From 1602, in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, the word could mean a pair, especially a pair of eyes, a sense obsolete by the 18th century.^[3][7] It was also used as a mild oath from the 1660s, which Etymonline suspects is a corruption of Jesu, comparing jiminy and noting similar oaths in Dutch and German.^[4][3][9] The use for a person born under the sign is from 1894.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1391 – the constellation and third sign of the zodiac, in Chaucer.^[3]
• 1602 – a couple, a pair (obsolete by 1700).^[3]
• 1622 – to play the gemini, perhaps alluding to the twin gods, of whom only one could be in heaven at a time.^[3]
• 1664 – a mild oath.^[3]
• 1894 – a person born under the sign.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. In astrology, the third sign of the zodiac, the Twins, associated with the period from about 21 May to 21 June.^[7][8]
2. A person born under this sign.^[3][7]
3. A northern constellation between Taurus and Cancer, containing the stars Castor and Pollux.^[8][2]
4. A pair, especially of eyes (obsolete, 1602–1700).^[3][7]

Interjection

1. A mild oath or exclamation of surprise; compare jiminy.^[3][7][9]

Word family

• Geminian

Related words

• geminate
• gemination
• jiminy
• Dioscuri
• Taurus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray