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astrology

Etymology and origin of the English word astrology

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈstɹɒlədʒi/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English astrologie,[2][3] borrowed from Old French astrologie,[2][4][5] from Latin astrologia (“astronomy”),[2][4][5][3][6] from Ancient Greek ἀστρολογία (astrología, “astronomy, literally a telling of the stars”),[2][4][5] from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”) + -λογία (-logía, “study of”).[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Practical astronomy, the application of knowledge of the heavens to human uses: “natural astrology”, foretelling such things as tides and eclipses (1375), and “judicial astrology”, judging the influence of the stars on human affairs (1393).[7][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was at first used of the whole study of the heavens, including what is now astronomy.[5][7][6] English began to distinguish the two words in the late 15th century,[5] the natural phenomena passing into the domain of astronomy,[7] and by the late 17th century astrology was limited to reading the influence of the stars on human destiny.[5][6] The sense “astronomy” is now obsolete or archaic.[7][3][6]

Timeline

  • 1375 – astrologie, natural astrology, calculation of natural phenomena.[7][4]
  • c. 1385 – astrologer.[4]
  • 1393 – judicial astrology, divination from the stars.[7]
  • 1660 – astronomy (now obsolete).[7]
  • late 17th century – restricted to the influence of the stars on human affairs.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The study of the positions and aspects of the stars and planets in the belief that they influence natural events and human affairs; a form of divination.
  2. (archaic) Astronomy.

Word family

  • astrologer
  • astrologically
  • astrological

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Astrology.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/astrology. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·