Adjacent Words

Taurus definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TAUR'US, n. [L.] The bull; one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, and the second in order, or that next to Aries. This constellation, according to the British catalogue, contains 141 stars.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father; trained and worked with many terrorist groups (born in 1949) [syn: Sanchez, Ilich Sanchez, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, Carlos, Carlos the Jackal, Salim, Andres Martinez, Taurus, Glen Gebhard, Hector Hevodidbon, Michael Assat]
2: (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Taurus [syn: Taurus, Bull]
3: a zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere near Orion; between Aries and Gemini
4: the second sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about April 20 to May 20 [syn: Taurus, Taurus the Bull, Bull]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin (genitive Tauri), literally, bull Date: 14th century 1. a zodiacal constellation that contains the Pleiades and Hyades and is represented pictorially by a bull's forequarters 2. a. the second sign of the zodiac in astrology b. one born under the sign of Taurus — see zodiac table II. geographical name or Turkish Toros mountains S Turkey parallel to Mediterranean coast

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a constellation. 2 a the second sign of the zodiac (the Bull). b a person born when the sun is in this sign. Derivatives: Taurean adj. & n. Etymology: ME f. L, = bull

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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. Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. --Rom. xv. 19. 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. (c) Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument. What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. --Num. xxvi. 10. (d) Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture. The holy symbols, or signs, are not barely significative; but what they represent is as certainly delivered to us as the symbols themselves. --Brerewood. Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory. --Spenser. (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. They made signs to his father, how he would have him called. --Luke i. 62. (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. 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. (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. The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets. --Macaulay. (j) (Astron.) The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac. 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. (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. 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. (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. An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. --Bk. of Common Prayer. Note: See the Table of Arbitrary Signs, p. 1924. 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. Syn: Token; mark; note; symptom; indication; signal; symbol; type; omen; prognostic; presage; manifestation. See Emblem.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Taurus Tau"rus (t[add]"r[u^]s), n. [L., akin to Gr. tay^ros, and E. steer. See Steer a young ox.] 1. (Astron.) (a) The Bull; the second in order of the twelve signs of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the 20th of April; -- marked thus [[taurus]] in almanacs. (b) A zodiacal constellation, containing the well-known clusters called the Pleiades and the Hyades, in the latter of which is situated the remarkably bright Aldebaran. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A genus of ruminants comprising the common domestic cattle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Taurus is one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Its symbol is a bull. People who are born approximately between the 20th of April and the 20th of May come under this sign. 2. A Taurus is a person whose sign of the zodiac is Taurus. N-SING: a N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. (Astron.) The Bull.