Editing Zodiac (section)

=={{anchor|Etymology|Names}}Name==
The English word ''{{linktext|zodiac}}'' derives from {{wikt-lang|la|zōdiacus}},<ref>{{cite book | title=A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language | page=622 | first=Walter William | last=Skeat | author-link=Walter William Skeat | date=1924 | publisher=Clarendon Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QkfWAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA622 | access-date=20 March 2023 | archive-date=7 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407151842/https://books.google.com/books?id=QkfWAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA622 | url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Latinisation of names|Latinized]] form of the [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] {{transliteration|grc|zōdiakòs kýklos}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|ζῳδιακός}} {{wikt-lang|grc|κύκλος}}),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 | last1=Hübner | first1=Wolfgang | last2=Hunger | first2=Hermann
 | title=Zodiac | isbn=9789004122598
 | encyclopedia=Brill’s New Pauly | doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1213810 }}</ref> meaning "cycle or circle of little animals". {{transliteration|grc|Zōdion}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|ζῴδιον}}) is the diminutive of {{transliteration|grc|zōon}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|ζῷον}}, "animal").<ref>{{OEtymD|zodiac|accessdate=2023-03-06}}</ref> The name reflects the prominence of animals (and [[mythological hybrid]]s) among the twelve signs. In English, the term "zodiac" may also be used in reference to or translation for the similar twelve year cycle (also sometimes applied to other time units than years) of the East Asian-derived systems referred to as the [[Chinese zodiac]] (see also, [[Earthly Branches]]): similarities include the use of animal or theriomorphic figures associated with a twelve year cycle used culturally to allege or describe personality traits and/or life events, and their interrelationships -- thus this use in translation.