Sagittarius

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sagittarius \Sag`it*ta"ri*us\, n. [L., literally, an archer, fr.
     sagittarius belonging to an arrow, fr. sagitta an arrow.]
     (Astron.)
        (a) The ninth of the twelve signs of the zodiac, which the
            sun enters about November 22, marked thus
            [[sagittarius]] in almanacs; the Archer.


        (b) A zodiacal constellation, represented on maps and
            globes as a centaur shooting an arrow.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sign \Sign\, n. [F. signe, L. signum; cf. AS. segen, segn, a
     sign, standard, banner, also fr. L. signum. Cf. {Ensign},
     {Resign}, {Seal} a stamp, {Signal}, {Signet}.]
     That by which anything is made known or represented; that
     which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a
     proof. Specifically:
     (a) A remarkable event, considered by the ancients as
         indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen.
     (b) An event considered by the Jews as indicating the divine
         will, or as manifesting an interposition of the divine
         power for some special end; a miracle; a wonder.
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               Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of
               the Spirit of God.                   --Rom. xv. 19.
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               It shall come to pass, if they will not believe
               thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first
               sign, that they will believe the voice of the
               latter sign.                         --Ex. iv. 8.
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     (c) Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve
         the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument.
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               What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty
               men, and they became a sign.         --Num. xxvi.
                                                    10.
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     (d) Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or
         represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture.
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               The holy symbols, or signs, are not barely
               significative; but what they represent is as
               certainly delivered to us as the symbols
               themselves.                          --Brerewood.
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               Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory.
                                                    --Spenser.
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     (e) A word or a character regarded as the outward
         manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of
         ideas.
     (f) A motion, an action, or a gesture by which a thought is
         expressed, or a command or a wish made known.
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               They made signs to his father, how he would have
               him called.                          --Luke i. 62.
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     (g) Hence, one of the gestures of pantomime, or of a language
         of a signs such as those used by the North American
         Indians, or those used by the deaf and dumb.
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     Note: Educaters of the deaf distinguish between natural
           signs, which serve for communicating ideas, and
           methodical, or systematic, signs, adapted for the
           dictation, or the rendering, of written language, word
           by word; and thus the signs are to be distinguished
           from the manual alphabet, by which words are spelled on
           the fingers.
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     (h) A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard.
         --Milton.
     (i) A lettered board, or other conspicuous notice, placed
         upon or before a building, room, shop, or office to
         advertise the business there transacted, or the name of
         the person or firm carrying it on; a publicly displayed
         token or notice.
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               The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted
               signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the
               streets.                             --Macaulay.
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     (j) (Astron.) The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac.
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     Note: The signs are reckoned from the point of intersection
           of the ecliptic and equator at the vernal equinox, and
           are named, respectively, {Aries} ([Aries]), {Taurus}
           ([Taurus]), {Gemini} (II), {Cancer} ([Cancer]), {Leo}
           ([Leo]), {Virgo} ([Virgo]), {Libra} ([Libra]),
           {Scorpio} ([Scorpio]), {Sagittarius} ([Sagittarius]),
           {Capricornus  ([Capricorn]), {Aquarius} ([Aquarius]),
           {Pisces} ([Pisces]). These names were originally the
           names of the constellations occupying severally the
           divisions of the zodiac, by which they are still
           retained; but, in consequence of the procession of the
           equinoxes, the signs have, in process of time, become
           separated about 30 degrees from these constellations,
           and each of the latter now lies in the sign next in
           advance, or to the east of the one which bears its
           name, as the constellation Aries in the sign Taurus,
           etc.
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     (k) (Alg.) A character indicating the relation of quantities,
         or an operation performed upon them; as, the sign +
         (plus); the sign -- (minus); the sign of division /, and
         the like.
     (l) (Med.) An objective evidence of disease; that is, one
         appreciable by some one other than the patient.
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     Note: The terms symptom and and sign are often used
           synonymously; but they may be discriminated. A sign
           differs from a symptom in that the latter is perceived
           only by the patient himself. The term sign is often
           further restricted to the purely local evidences of
           disease afforded by direct examination of the organs
           involved, as distinguished from those evidence of
           general disturbance afforded by observation of the
           temperature, pulse, etc. In this sense it is often
           called physical sign.
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     (m) (Mus.) Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc.
     (n) (Theol.) That which, being external, stands for, or
         signifies, something internal or spiritual; -- a term
         used in the Church of England in speaking of an ordinance
         considered with reference to that which it represents.
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               An outward and visible sign of an inward and
               spiritual grace.                     --Bk. of
                                                    Common Prayer.
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     Note: See the Table of {Arbitrary Signs}, p. 1924.
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     {Sign manual}.
     (a) (Eng. Law) The royal signature superscribed at the top of
         bills of grants and letter patent, which are then sealed
         with the privy signet or great seal, as the case may be,
         to complete their validity.
     (b) The signature of one's name in one's own handwriting.
         --Craig. Tomlins. Wharton.
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     Syn: Token; mark; note; symptom; indication; signal; symbol;
          type; omen; prognostic; presage; manifestation. See
          {Emblem}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Sagittarius
       n 1: (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in
            Sagittarius [syn: {Archer}]
       2: a large zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere;
          between Scorpius and Capricornus
       3: the ninth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from
          about November 22 to December 21 [syn: {Sagittarius the
          Archer}, {Archer}]
       4: type family of the Sagittariidae [syn: {genus Sagittarius}]