Leo

How to spell leo

3 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce leo

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does leo mean?

1. nounThe fifth sign of the zodiac, represented by a lion, covering people born roughly between late July and late August.
2. nounA constellation in the northern sky, traditionally pictured as a lion.

Leo in a sentence

• As a leo, she was born in early August.

• The bright star Regulus marks the heart of leo.

• The horoscope column listed advice for every leo that week.

• On clear spring nights you can trace leo high above the horizon.

Where does leo come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from the Latin leo, meaning 'lion', which the Romans themselves borrowed from the Greek leon, the ordinary word for the big cat. The Greek term is of uncertain, possibly Semitic, ancestry, since lions were known across the ancient Near East. In astronomy and astrology the name was attached to the constellation and zodiac sign shaped like a crouching lion, a usage that Latin writers handed on to medieval Europe. The same root survives in the male given name Leo and in the related Leonard and Leon, all carrying the idea of lion-like courage. Because the spelling is short and follows the Latin form exactly, the only real trap is remembering that it ends in a plain -eo rather than the -ion of the English word 'lion'.

How the word is built

• leo (Latin for 'lion'; used unchanged as a proper noun)