Capricornus

Forms

Capricornus m sg (genitive Capricornī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Latin caper (“goat”) + cornū (“horn”), “goat-horned”.^[2][1][3] It corresponds to Greek αἰγοκερεύς (aigokereús),^[4][5] and Etymonline calls it a loan-translation of the Greek name of the constellation.^[3] Petronius and Macrobius give various reasons why the sign was named after a goat and a horn.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in his translation of Aratus for the zodiacal constellation, which he calls “half-beast”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It named the constellation and sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters at the winter solstice.^[2][4] Varro observes that, not content with giving animal names to a sixth of the twelve signs, people added Capricorn to make up a quarter.^[5] Hyginus describes its figure as resembling Aegipan, with the lower part of a fish, and poets called it two-formed or shaggy.^[5] It was also a man's cognomen in inscriptions.^[5] In Medieval Latin it could mean the ibex.^[7] English has had Capricorn since late Old English.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero names the constellation in his Aratea.^[5][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro explains why it was added to the animal signs.^[5][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace mentions Capricorn in the Odes.^[4][6]
• before 66 AD – Petronius has a sea crayfish set on the sign of Capricorn.^[5][6]
• late Old English – English takes over the name as Capricorn.^[3]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. Capricorn, the constellation and sign of the zodiac, usually shown as a goat.^[2][4][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) The ibex.^[7]

Related words

• English Capricorn

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill