English
horoscope
Horoscope comes from Ancient Greek ὡροσκόπος ‘caster of nativities, astrologer’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὡροσκόποςhōroskópos‘caster of nativities, astrologer’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500horoscopus
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600horoscope
- Englishearliest quotation 1834same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὡροσκόποςhōroskópos‘caster of nativities, astrologer’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500horoscopus
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600horoscope
- Englishearliest quotation 1834same form
Earliest quotation: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “We must talk of the force of circumstances, of…”
A compound of ὥρα ‘any limited time’ + σκοπός ‘watcher’
Proto-Indo-European yeh₁- ‘to send’
Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ ‘year, season’
Ancient Greek ὥρα ‘any limited time’
Proto-Indo-European *skep-ye-
Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι ‘to observe’
Ancient Greek σκοπός ‘watcher’
Every English word from Ancient Greek ὡροσκόπος
Today it means
noun The position of the planets and stars at the moment of someone's birth; a diagram of such positions.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ὡροσκόπος / horoscope