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Origin and history of Capricorn

Capricorn

ancient zodiac sign represented as a goat, or half-goat half-fish, late Old English, from Latin Capricornus, literally "horned like a goat," from caper (genitive capri) "goat" (see cab) + cornu "horn" (from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn; head").

A loan-translation of Greek Aigokherōs, a name of the constellation, the "horned goat" to distinguish it from "the kids" in Auriga, a popular asterism sometimes regarded by the Romans as a separate constellation. The common Latin name was simply "goat" (caper, hircus). It was naturally associated in Rome with the goat Amalthea that nursed the infant Zeus, and thus with the image in cornucopia, which also emphasizes the horn. Allen ("Star Names and Their Meanings") reports the Anglo-Saxons knew it as both bucca and buccan horn.

Extended 1894 to persons born under the sign.

Entries linking to Capricorn

cab(n.)

1826, "light, two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage," a colloquial London shortening of cabriolet, a type of covered horse-drawn carriage (1763), from French cabriolet (18c.), diminutive of cabriole "a leap, a caper," earlier capriole (16c.), from Italian capriola "a caper, frisk, leap," literally "a leap like that of a kid goat," from capriola "a kid, a fawn," from Latin capreolus "wild goat, roebuck," from caper, capri "he-goat, buck," from PIE *kap-ro- "he-goat, buck" (source also of Old Irish gabor, Welsh gafr, Old English hæfr, Old Norse hafr "he-goat"). The carriages were noted for their springy suspensions.

Originally a passenger-vehicle drawn by two or four horses; it was introduced into London from Paris in 1820. The name was extended to hansoms and other types of carriages, then to similar-looking parts of locomotives (1851). It was applied especially to public horse carriages, then to automobiles-for-hire (1899) when these began to replace them.

cornucopia(n.)

"horn of plenty," ancient emblem of fruitfulness and abundance, 1590s, from Late Latin cornucopia, in classical Latin cornu copiae "horn of plenty," originally the horn of the goat Amalthea, who nurtured the infant Zeus. See horn (n.) and copious. Related: Cornucopian.

*ker-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "horn; head," with derivatives referring to horned animals, horn-shaped objects, and projecting parts.

It might form all or part of: alpenhorn; Capricorn; carat; carotid; carrot; carotene; cerato-; cerebellum; cerebral; cerebrum; cervical; cervix; charivari; cheer; chelicerae; corn (n.2) "hardening of the skin;" cornea; corner; cornet; cornucopia; cranium; flugelhorn; hart; hartebeest; horn; hornbeam; hornblende; hornet; keratin; kerato-; migraine; monoceros; reindeer; rhinoceros; saveloy; serval; triceratops; unicorn.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit srngam "horn;" Persian sar "head," Avestan sarah- "head;" Greek karnon "horn," koryne "club, mace," koryphe "head;" Latin cornu "horn," cervus "deer;" Old English horn "horn of an animal;" Welsh carw "deer."

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