handn wrote:
Hello I'm not quite sure if I've understood properly what you're referring to, but if you mean how to refer to a group of people who have the Sun in each Sign, the terms I've come across in past reading of Sun Sign books are these.....

Ariens
Taureans
Geminis
Cancerians
Leos
Virgos/Virgoans
Librans/Libras
Scorpios
Sagittarians
Capricorns
Aquarians
Pisceans

H.

Hi Handn. I guess my question has more to do with grammar then anything else. It's frustrating that my PC dictionary and my online dictionary don't give any straight forward directions on the correct pluralization of the zodiac signs. I mainly use the plural forms of the Sun Signs that you wrote down above, but then for example I've seen the pluralization of Sagittarius as "Sagittarii". I was hoping to get some kind of direction/consensus on this forum as to what was the correct grammatical procedure for this. I'll keep looking into it....

It depends if you want Latin-style plurals or modern English style plurals. It's like the difference between 'stadia' and 'stadiums' or 'genii' and 'geniuses'. 'Sagittarii' is the Latin plural for the word 'archers'. If you want Latin plurals for all the Zodiac signs then I'd recommend looking in Latin dictionaries.

One of my English dictionaries, to pick two examples, has this for Taurus

Taurus noun (plural in sense 2b Tauruses) 1 astron a constellation of the zodiac. 2 astrol a the second sign of the zodiac; b a person born between 21 April and 20 May, under this sign. Taurean noun, adj.

this for Libra

Libra noun (plural Libras in sense 2b) 1 astron a constellation of the zodiac. 2 astrol a the seventh sign of the zodiac. b a person born between 23 September and 22 October, under this sign. Libran adj, noun.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin libra pound weight.

but for 'sagittarii' none of my English dictionaries have entries, presumably because the compilers thought it to be exclusively Latin. 'Sagittarii' is found listed as a genitive form in English dictionaries though, but not in reference to astrology.

I know in astronomy stars are called things like 'Epsilon Sagittarii' but that's not because it's plural, it's because the star belongs to the constellation Sagittarius, so maybe someone's pulled 'sagittarii' from there and is using it in astrology. Or maybe, like I said, someone's just using Latin plurals for 'archers', 'rams', 'lions' etc.

Maybe they're just trying to sound more erudite than saying 'Sagittarians' :-D

Regards

H.

Am I thinking about this all wrong? In terms of the actual zodiac signs, in what context could you have a pluralised zodiac sign (which is after all inherently singular)? If you're talkinga bout the actual zodiac sign, then there is only one of each, there is only ever one Gemini. Checking along the ecliptic you'll never find two of them. Therefore all the zodiac signs are actually inherently singular - they do not have a plural counterpart.

On the other hand, if you're asking about a person who has that sign strong in their chart, then you're not looking for a plural of a sign, you're looking for a plural of a possession or adjective of a sign. So you're looking for the plural that would refer to peoples of a sign - not looking for the plural of those signs themselves. Therefore Taureans does not refer to two zodiac signs called Taurus, instead, it refers to two people who have something in Taurus.

If it was purely a grammatical question then you have two options: to either use English plura (sing.Aries, pl. Arieses or simply Aries; Cancer pl. Cancers etc.) or to use Latin plural which isn't a common practice unless you actually speak Latin. (The words do derive from another language but have been adopted). But, in case you prefer that version, you'd simply have to respect the rules of the Latin grammar (ex. Aquarius pl. Aquarii, Aries pl. Aries, Libra pl. Librae etc.).

The third option, accepted in some languages, is to simply use the translation of these names both in singular and in plural. Many languages (German, Italian, slavic languages etc.) use translations and Virgo is called simply "Maiden" or "Virgin" , Cancer is "Crab", Aquarius is "Watercarrier" , Gemini is "Twins"etc..

Cheers!

or to use Latin plural which isn't a common practice unless you actually speak Latin.

Yeah, my Latin is rusty, but I'll give it a shot for fun (correct me if I am wrong):

1.) Aries: the ram
nominitive singular: aries
nom plural: arietes

2.) Taurus: the bull
nom singular: taurus
nom plural: tauri

3.) Gemini: the twins
nom singular: geminus
nom plural: gemini

4.) Cancer: the crab
nom singular: cancer
nom plural: cancri

5.) Leo: the lion
nom singular: leo
nom plural: leones

6.) Virgo: the virgin
nom singular: virgo
nom plural: virgines

7.) Libra: the scale
nom singular: libra
nom plural: librae

8.) Scorpio: the scorpion
nom singular: scorpio
nom plural: scorpiones

9.) Sagittarius: the archer (a masculine one - a female one would be sagittaria/sagittariae)
nom singular: sagittarius
nom plural: sagittarii

10.) Capricorn: the horned goat
nom singular: capricornus
nom plural: capricorni

11.) Aquarius: the water barrer (again, masculine - feminine is aquaria/aquariae)
nom singular: aquarius
nom plural: aquarii

12.) Pisces: fish
nom singular: piscis
nom plural: pisces

Hi Tanit, that's lovely. I'm going to use the Latin more often, why not?

Also thanks for that Aglaya. Which version is better....hmmmmm....

Eddy wrote:How should Virgo be seen in this double bodiedness? Gemini- two brothers, Sagittarius- half man - half horse, Pisces - two fishes, are things I can understand but Virgo usually is represented as a lady holding an ear of grain, not really two bodies I think.

The symbol I prefer for Virgo:
http://www.google.com/search?q=caduceus
Two snakes wrapped around a pole...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the symbol has transformed over time but I think I recall that it has been referred to as the Virgin with Christ child (hence 2 due to pregnancy).

Since Virgo is linked to analysis, it separates the wheat from the chaff.