Astrology
Term
Direct answer
Term: Term, also called bound, is an unequal subdivision of a zodiac sign used in traditional astrology as a form of essential dignity.
Term is a traditional dignity subdivision assigning degree ranges of a sign to planetary rulers.
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At a glance
- Also called
- bound
- In astrology
- Terms are not equal ten-degree decans.
- Found in
- Astrology
- Related
- Zodiac, Dignity, Essential Dignity, Triplicity
Term is a traditional dignity subdivision assigning degree ranges of a sign to planetary rulers.
A structural orientation; exact placements depend on the chart or technique being discussed.
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The Egyptian bounds, sign by sign
Each sign is cut into five unequal pieces, one for each of the five planets from Saturn to Mercury. The Sun and Moon take none. A planet standing in its own piece is in its bound, and the oldest surviving table, the Egyptian one, runs like this (degrees counted inside the sign):
- Aries: Jupiter 1-6, Venus 7-12, Mercury 13-20, Mars 21-25, Saturn 26-30
- Taurus: Venus 1-8, Mercury 9-14, Jupiter 15-22, Saturn 23-27, Mars 28-30
- Gemini: Mercury 1-6, Jupiter 7-12, Venus 13-17, Mars 18-24, Saturn 25-30
- Cancer: Mars 1-7, Venus 8-13, Mercury 14-19, Jupiter 20-26, Saturn 27-30
- Leo: Jupiter 1-6, Venus 7-11, Saturn 12-18, Mercury 19-24, Mars 25-30
- Virgo: Mercury 1-7, Venus 8-17, Jupiter 18-21, Mars 22-28, Saturn 29-30
- Libra: Saturn 1-6, Mercury 7-14, Jupiter 15-21, Venus 22-28, Mars 29-30
- Scorpio: Mars 1-7, Venus 8-11, Mercury 12-19, Jupiter 20-24, Saturn 25-30
- Sagittarius: Jupiter 1-12, Venus 13-17, Mercury 18-21, Saturn 22-26, Mars 27-30
- Capricorn: Mercury 1-7, Jupiter 8-14, Venus 15-22, Saturn 23-26, Mars 27-30
- Aquarius: Mercury 1-7, Venus 8-13, Jupiter 14-20, Mars 21-25, Saturn 26-30
- Pisces: Venus 1-12, Jupiter 13-16, Mercury 17-19, Mars 20-28, Saturn 29-30
Every row adds up to 30. Firmicus Maternus gives this table in the fourth century, and the Latin manuscripts are corrupt in places: the text we checked matches it in nine signs and disagrees in three (Gemini, Cancer and Sagittarius), where his editors restored numbers by comparing Ptolemy, Dorotheus and Paulus Alexandrinus. Treat the version above as the standard Egyptian table and the Latin witness as imperfect.
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How to find the bound a planet is in
Take the planet's degree inside its sign, then walk down the row for that sign until the ranges reach it. A planet at 13 degrees of Aries is in the bound of Mercury, because Mercury holds 13 to 20. A planet at 12 degrees of Virgo is in the bound of Venus, which holds 8 to 17.
Mind the boundary. A planet at 6 degrees 30 minutes of Aries has finished six degrees and is moving through the seventh, so it has left Jupiter's bound (1 to 6) and entered Venus's (7 to 12). Software differs on how it rounds, so check the arc yourself when a planet sits within a degree of a boundary.
Bounds follow the sign, not the house. They are measured from 0 degrees of the zodiacal sign, which is why a table printed for the tropical zodiac cannot be applied to a sidereal position without shifting it.
What the table gives away about the doctrine
Add up each planet's share and the totals are Jupiter 79, Venus 82, Mercury 76, Mars 66 and Saturn 57, which makes 360. Ptolemy quotes the same totals when he criticizes this table, so we know the Egyptian bounds he knew are the ones above. The benefics get the most, the malefics the least, and Saturn is allotted only about a sixth of the circle.
The widest single bounds are 12 degrees: Jupiter in Sagittarius, its own sign, and Venus in Pisces, her exaltation. The narrowest are 2 degrees: Saturn in Virgo and in Pisces, and Mars in Libra. Ten of the twelve signs give their own ruler a bound inside the sign. Cancer and Leo give nothing to the Moon or Sun, since the luminaries take no bounds.
The order inside each sign is the other puzzle. Ptolemy complained that the Egyptian order is irregular: sometimes the first degrees go to the sign's own ruler, sometimes to the triplicity lord, sometimes to the exalted planet. Aries opens with Jupiter though Mars rules it, Libra opens with Saturn though Venus rules it, and Capricorn opens with Mercury though Saturn rules it.
Ptolemy’s two alternatives and why they lost
Ptolemy describes two other tables in the Tetrabiblos. The Chaldean one lists the planets in triplicity-lord order with 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 degrees. He rejects it because he could find no record of where it came from. His own table, taken from an old writing he had, orders the planets inside each sign by who holds dignity there: the exalted planet first, then the triplicity lord, then the sign's ruler. Base portions are Jupiter and Venus 7 degrees, Saturn and Mars 5, Mercury 6.
His version never displaced the Egyptian table in practice. Dorotheus mentions the bound of Mars without printing a table, and the later Arabic and Latin textbooks used the Egyptian one. Translators such as Benjamin Dykes render the Latin terminus as bound, so term and bound name the same thing.
How much a bound counts
Firmicus says a planet in its own bound acts as it would in its own house. That is generous language for the smallest of the five dignities. Al-Qabisi, in the form later taught as a points system, gives domicile 5, exaltation 4, triplicity 3, bound 2 and face 1. Benjamin Dykes adds that Bonatti mostly used a simple equal-point count, and that the compound summing of many points, as in Lilly's tables, is a later development.
Read the bound as the smallest of the main dignities, and as a refinement of how a planet stands. It never replaces the planet's sign, house or aspects.
The story behind Term
Terms or bounds are part of traditional essential dignity systems preserved in Hellenistic, medieval, and Renaissance astrology.
The spiritual meaning of Term
Spiritually, Term shows how small contexts can still provide support and responsibility.
Term in astrology
Terms are not equal ten-degree decans. They are unequal degree ranges assigned to planets according to a term table, such as Egyptian or Ptolemaic bounds.
Why Term matters
Term matters because it refines planetary condition beyond sign rulership and exaltation. A planet may gain modest dignity by being in its own term.
Term in practice: an example
A planet without sign rulership may still have some dignity if it is placed within its own term.
Where readings of Term go wrong
A common error is to confuse term with zodiac sign or with ordinary dictionary use of the word term.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Astrology
- Aliases
- bound, Egyptian term
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Related terms
More in Astrology
- Angular House Emphasis
- Bundle Chart Shape
- Dominant Element
- Feminine Signs
- Horoscope
- Lunar Return
- Orb
- Rulership
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Common questions
What is a term?
Term, also called bound, is an unequal subdivision of a zodiac sign used in traditional astrology as a form of essential dignity.
Where does a term come from?
Terms or bounds are part of traditional essential dignity systems preserved in Hellenistic, medieval, and Renaissance astrology.
What does a term mean in astrology?
Terms are not equal ten-degree decans. They are unequal degree ranges assigned to planets according to a term table, such as Egyptian or Ptolemaic bounds.
What does a term look like in a birth chart?
A planet without sign rulership may still have some dignity if it is placed within its own term.
What does a term mean spiritually?
Spiritually, Term shows how small contexts can still provide support and responsibility.
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