All 12 Zodiac Signs in Arabic (Burj Names): Script & Pronunciation

The 12 zodiac signs in Arabic are الحمل (Aries), الثور (Taurus), الجوزاء (Gemini), السرطان (Cancer), الأسد (Leo), العذراء or السنبلة (Virgo), الميزان (Libra), العقرب (Scorpio), القوس (Sagittarius), الجدي (Capricorn), الدلو (Aquarius) and الحوت (Pisces). A single sign is a برج (burj); together they are الأبراج (al-abrāj).

All 12 Zodiac Signs in Arabic

Every name carries the definite article الـ. There is no indefinite version in use — Arabic does not say “a ram” here, only “the Ram”. The dates above use the Gregorian calendar, though the Arabic month names themselves vary by region: Egypt and the Gulf use مارس for March, while the Levant uses آذار. The month table below shows both.

Hear the Zodiac Signs in Arabic: Pronunciation Audio

Press play to hear each sign said with its article, as in the table above. For the sun-letter signs (Taurus, Cancer, Virgo’s as-Sunbula and Aquarius) you will hear the l disappear and the next consonant double.

 

Use the transliteration above as your guide for the throat sounds ʿ and ḥ, which a synthetic voice only approximates.

What Does “Burj” Mean in Arabic?

Literally translated, the Arabic word burj (برج) means “tower,” “castle” or “fortress”. It is the same word used for famous buildings like the Burj Khalifa. In astronomy and astrology, burj means a zodiac sign: ancient observers pictured each region, or “house”, of the sky as a tall tower where a group of stars lived.

• Singular: burj (برج) — “zodiac sign”
• Plural: abraj (أبراج) — “zodiac signs”
• Burj al-Asad (برج الأسد) = Leo, literally “sign of the lion”
• Burj al-Mīzān (برج الميزان) = Libra, literally “sign of the scales”

Burj Name List: Arabic and Urdu Side by Side

If you searched for a “burj name list” or “all burj names”: both Arabic and Urdu use the word burj for a zodiac sign, and Urdu kept the Arabic names almost unchanged — the Arabic article al- is simply dropped. The one real difference is Virgo, where Urdu kept the classical Sunbula (“ear of grain”).

Read the full list with Urdu script and pronunciation in zodiac signs in Urdu. Hindi shares a region with Urdu but not one of these names, having taken the Sanskrit route instead: see zodiac signs in Hindi.

Arabic Zodiac Signs by Month

Looking for your sign by month — for example “Aquarius in Arabic month” or “February zodiac sign in Arabic”? Here is each sign with its dates and the Arabic month names used in each region.

The الـ That Changes Its Own Sound

This is the piece of Arabic grammar that trips up every learner, and the zodiac list is an unusually clean way to learn it.

The definite article is always written الـ (al-). It is not always pronounced that way. Arabic letters divide into two groups, and the article behaves differently with each:

• Moon letters — the l is pronounced normally. الحمل is al-Ḥamal.
• Sun letters — the l disappears and the following consonant doubles instead. الثور is written al-Thawr but said ath-Thawr.

Four of the twelve signs begin with sun letters:

The other eight — الحمل, الجوزاء, الأسد, العذراء, الميزان, العقرب, القوس, الجدي, الحوت — all begin with moon letters and keep the l intact. Learn these twelve and you have learned the rule.

The Sign With Two Correct Arabic Names

Virgo in Arabic: العذراء or السنبلة

Virgo is the one sign with two correct Arabic names in genuine parallel use, and the two point at completely different things.

السنبلة (as-Sunbula) means an ear of grain — a wheat stalk. It is the classical astronomical name, and it comes from the brightest star in the constellation: Spica, whose Latin name also means “ear of grain”. The classical figure is a maiden holding a sheaf, and Arabic astronomers named the sheaf.

العذراء (al-ʿAdhrāʾ) means the virgin, and it is what modern Arabic horoscope columns overwhelmingly use.

The split matters practically. If you are reading classical or astronomical Arabic, expect as-Sunbula. If you are reading a horoscope in a Gulf newspaper, expect al-ʿAdhrāʾ. And this is exactly where Urdu forked off: Urdu took Sunbula, the older name, and kept it — which is why Urdu Virgo means “ear of grain” and modern Arabic Virgo does not. See the Virgo profile.

How the Zodiac Went From Greek to Arabic to Europe

Arabic did not receive the zodiac from Europe. Europe received it back from Arabic.

When Ptolemy’s astronomical work was largely lost to the Latin West, it survived in Arabic translation, and it was from Arabic that medieval Europe recovered it. The Arabic names above are translations of the Greek ones, made by astronomers working in Baghdad and Córdoba, and they were the custodians of this material for centuries. Urdu inherited them directly. So did a surprising number of the star names English still uses.

Arabic Sign Names Hiding Inside English Star Names

Here is the clearest proof of how this material travelled. When medieval Europe recovered Ptolemy through Arabic, it took the star names along with the astronomy — and it took them phonetically, without translating. Hundreds of the star names in use in English today are Arabic worn down by Latin scribes.

Several of them contain the zodiac sign names above:

Hamal is the striking one. An English-speaking astronomer naming the brightest star in Aries is using the Arabic word for the sign itself, unaware of it. And Deneb Algedi preserves الجدي, the Arabic Capricorn — tail and all, which is more than most European languages managed with the sign.

Three star Signs Where Arabic Named the Object

Arabic consistently chose the thing over the person, and Urdu followed it in all three cases.

Sagittarius in Arabic: القوس (al-Qaws)

Al-Qaws (say al-QAWS; the q is made further back in the throat than an English k) is a bow, or an arc — the same word behind قوس قزح (qaws quzaḥ), a rainbow. No archer, no centaur, no shooter: only the weapon. Arabic, Urdu and Hindi name Sagittarius after the weapon alone, while German, Swedish, Chinese and Japanese name the act of shooting. Sagittarius runs from 22 November to 21 December: نوفمبر and ديسمبر in Egypt and the Gulf, تشرين الثاني and كانون الأول in the Levant. To say “My sign is Sagittarius”: برجي القوس (burjī al-Qaws). See the Sagittarius profile.

Aquarius in Arabic: الدلو (ad-Dalw)

Ad-Dalw (say ad-DALW; the l of the article becomes a second d) is a bucket or leather water-skin — the vessel you lower into a well. Every European language makes this sign a man who carries or pours water. Arabic, like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi and Urdu, makes it the container, and picks the plainest one of the set. Aquarius runs from 20 January to 18 February: يناير and فبراير in Egypt and the Gulf, كانون الثاني and شباط in the Levant. To say “My sign is Aquarius”: برجي الدلو (burjī ad-Dalw). See the Aquarius profile.

Libra in Arabic: الميزان (al-Mīzān)

Al-Mīzān (say al-mee-ZAAN) is a balance or set of scales, and it carries weight far beyond astronomy: it appears in Islamic theology as the scale on which deeds are weighed, and the related word ميزانية (mīzāniyya) means a budget or balance sheet in modern Arabic. Libra runs from 23 September to 22 October: سبتمبر and أكتوبر in Egypt and the Gulf, أيلول and تشرين الأول in the Levant. To say “My sign is Libra”: برجي الميزان (burjī al-Mīzān). The Libra profile covers the sign.

The Remaining Eight Arabic Star Signs

Aries in Arabic: الحمل (al-Ḥamal)

الحمل (al-Ḥamal, say al-HA-mal) means a lamb or young ram — the word for the animal, not a technical term. The Ḥ is a breathy h made at the back of the throat, not the English h. Aries runs from 21 March to 19 April, so Arabic horoscopes print it under مارس and أبريل in Egypt and the Gulf, or آذار and نيسان in the Levant. To say “My sign is Aries”: برجي الحمل (burjī al-Ḥamal). See the Aries profile.

Taurus in Arabic: الثور (ath-Thawr)

الثور (ath-Thawr) — a bull or ox. A sun letter, so the article assimilates. The Taurus profile.

Gemini in Arabic: الجوزاء (al-Jawzāʾ)

الجوزاء (al-Jawzāʾ) — from a root meaning to pair or to lie at the centre. The same word gave al-Jawzāʾ as an old Arabic name for the Orion region, which is the ancestor of the English star name Betelgeuse. The Gemini profile.

Cancer in Arabic: السرطان (as-Saraṭān)

السرطان (as-Saraṭān) — a crab, and, as in Latin, English, Italian and German, also cancer the disease. The Cancer profile.

Leo in Arabic: الأسد (al-Asad)

الأسد (al-Asad) — a lion, and one of the most common given names in the Arabic-speaking world. The Leo profile.

Scorpio in Arabic: العقرب (al-ʿAqrab)

العقرب (al-ʿAqrab) — a scorpion. Begins with ع (ʿayn), produced deep in the throat, with no English equivalent. The star Antares was known in Arabic as قلب العقرب, “the heart of the scorpion”. The Scorpio profile.

Capricorn in Arabic: الجدي (al-Jady)

الجدي (al-Jady, say al-JAD-ee) means a young goat, a kid. Arabic dropped the fish tail entirely, taking the goat like the European languages and unlike Hindi’s Makar. The star Deneb Algedi, “tail of the goat”, still carries the name in English. Capricorn runs from 22 December to 19 January, spanning ديسمبر and يناير in Egypt and the Gulf, or كانون الأول and كانون الثاني in the Levant. To say “My sign is Capricorn”: برجي الجدي (burjī al-Jady). See the Capricorn profile.

Pisces in Arabic: الحوت (al-Ḥūt)

الحوت (al-Ḥūt, say al-HOOT) means a large fish or whale, singular where the Latin Pisces is plural. The same word appears in the Quranic account of Yunus. Pisces runs from 19 February to 20 March: فبراير and مارس in Egypt and the Gulf, شباط and آذار in the Levant. To say “My sign is Pisces”: برجي الحوت (burjī al-Ḥūt). See the Pisces profile.

Talking About Zodiac Signs in Arabic

The phrases:

• ما هو برجك؟ — Mā huwa burjuk? — What’s your zodiac sign?
• برجي العقرب. — Burjī al-ʿAqrab. — My sign is Scorpio.
• حظك اليوم — literally “your luck today”, and the standard heading for a horoscope column across Arabic media.

Two terms are worth separating. علم الفلك (ʿilm al-falak) is astronomy — a serious science with a long and celebrated Arabic tradition. علم التنجيم (ʿilm at-tanjīm) is astrology. Classical Arabic scholarship distinguished the two sharply, and many Arabic astronomers were explicitly critical of the latter while advancing the former. Using the wrong term will read as a category error to an educated Arabic reader.

Horoscope in Arabic: حظك اليوم and the Al-Abraj Columns

Search for a horoscope in Arabic and you will land on pages headed حظك اليوم (ḥaẓẓuk al-yawm, “your luck today”), the standard heading for a horoscope column across Arabic media. Each sign is introduced with the word برج followed by its name — برج الحمل for Aries, برج الميزان for Libra, برج الدلو for Aquarius — so those are the phrases to look for.

The twelve names on this page are Modern Standard Arabic and they are the same from Morocco to Oman, with no regional substitutions. Only the Virgo pair varies, and that varies by register rather than country: العذراء in newspaper columns, السنبلة in classical and astronomical writing. The columns themselves run in the major Arabic dailies and satellite channels, often with several paragraphs per sign covering love, work and health.

This page covers the names, not daily readings. To read about your sign in English, start with its profile: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.

Is There an “Arabic Zodiac”? Arabic Astrology Explained

Searches for “Arabic zodiac”, “Arabic star signs” or “Arabic astrology chart” usually mean one of two things, and the answer to both is short.

The signs are the same twelve. There is no separate Arabic zodiac with different signs. The twelve names in the table above are Arabic translations of the Greek ones, so an Arabic horoscope and a Western horoscope use the same signs and the same dates. It is also unrelated to the Chinese animal zodiac.

What Arabic astrology added. Medieval astrologers writing in Arabic built on the Greek system and added tools of their own. Two of the best known are the 28 lunar mansions (manāzil al-qamar, المنازل القمرية), which divide the Moon’s path into nightly stations, and the Arabic Parts, or lots (sahm, سهم) — calculated points in a birth chart, such as the Part of Fortune. Both reached Europe in Latin translation, alongside the star names listed above.

أبراجك بالإنجليزي: Your Sign’s Name in English

If you already know your برج in Arabic and just need the English name — for a form, an app, or an English horoscope site — here is the direct match for each one:

برج الحمل بالإنجليزي — Aries
برج الثور بالإنجليزي — Taurus
برج الجوزاء بالإنجليزي — Gemini
برج السرطان بالإنجليزي — Cancer
برج الأسد بالإنجليزي — Leo
برج العذراء بالإنجليزي — Virgo
برج الميزان بالإنجليزي — Libra
برج العقرب بالإنجليزي — Scorpio
برج القوس بالإنجليزي — Sagittarius
برج الجدي بالإنجليزي — Capricorn
برج الدلو بالإنجليزي — Aquarius
برج الحوت بالإنجليزي — Pisces

Note that “بالإنجليزي” itself just means “in English” — so أبراج بالإنجليزي is simply “zodiac signs in English,” and the table at the top of this page works both directions: match the Arabic script in the second column, then read across to the first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Zodiac Signs in Arabic and the Language That Inherited Them

Read this page beside the zodiac signs in Urdu and the inheritance is unmistakable: Hamal, Saur, Jauza, Saratan, Asad, Sunbula, Meezan, Aqrab, Qaus, Jadi, Dalw, Hoot — the same twelve words, minus the Arabic article. Then compare the zodiac signs in Hindi, which shares a region with Urdu and not one name, having taken the Sanskrit route instead.

For the languages that received this material from Arabic hands and then translated it into their own words, see the German and Italian lists.

All languages: zodiac signs in different languages.