Canicula? Say what?

By on July 24, 2007 in General

Canicula. What does it mean?

Canicula is the Latin name of Sirius, The Dog Star. The following definition is from
Answers.com online dictionary.


Canicula
(||Ca*nic”u*la) n. [L.canicula, lit., a little dog, a dim. of canis dog;
cf. F. canicule.] (Astron.) The Dog Star; Sirius.

Sirius is in the constellation Canis Major and is the brightest star in the sky. More
info about Sirius can be found at Wikipedia and The Dome of the Sky.

2 Responses to Canicula? Say what?

  1. Stanley November 9, 2008 at 5:06 pm #

    Canicula had a meaning prior to it’s use in designating the Dog Star.

    It means “little bitch”.

    http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookdown.pl?little+bitch

  2. fflavio September 25, 2011 at 5:34 pm #

    ‘Canícula’ means, in Spanish, the hottest time of the year, when the sun is highest in sky. Apparently the expression does have the same astronomical origin.

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