The term horoscope is intriguing as it originates from a time before the Norman Conquest. It can be traced back through Old French to Latin horoscopus and Ancient Greek horoskopos, both meaning “hour-watcher”. The first part, hora, referred to “hour” or “season”, while the second part, skopos, denoted “one who watches”. The root of hora is Proto-Indo-European yeh, which is also the origin of the English word “hour” and “year”. On the other hand, skopos derives from the verb skeptomai, meaning “to observe”, originating from Proto-Indo-European spek.
