Taurus

Taurus zodiac constellation, late 14c., from L. taurus "bull," from PIE *tauro- "bull" (Cf. Gk. tauros, L. taurus "bull, bullock, steer;" O.C.S. turu "bull, steer;" Lith. tauras "aurochs;" O.Pruss. tauris "bison"), often said to be from PIE *steu-ro- "be big, be strong, be sturdy" (Cf. Skt. sthura- "thick, compact," Avestan staora- "big cattle," M.Pers. stor "horse, draft animal," Goth. stiur "young bull," O.E. steor, see STEER (Cf. steer) (n.)).

Klein proposes a Semitic origin (Cf. Aramaic tora "ox, bull, steer," Heb. shor, Arabic thor, Ethiopian sor). Meaning "person born under the sign of the bull" is recorded from 1901. Hence also tauromachy "bull-fighting," from Gk. tauromakhia (see -MACHY (Cf. -machy)).

What form great Jove would next devise,

And when his godship would again Taurise?

[William Somerville, 1727]