An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

The Twins. A prominent constellation of the northern hemisphere and the third (and northernmost) of the → Zodiac. It lies south and east of → Auriga, west of → Cancer, and north and east of → Orion, at 7h right ascension and +22° declination. Its brightest stars are → Castor and → Pollux. Abbreviation: Gem; genitive: Geminorum.

Gemini, from M.E., from L. gemini, plural of geminus "twin; double;" cf. Av. yəma- "twin;" Skt. yamá-, yamala- "twin, paired;" Persian dialects Kermâni jomoli "twin," Qâyeni jamal "twin," Tabari da-cembali "twin;" PIE base *iem- "to hold."

Dopeykar, from do "two" (Mid.Pers. do, Av. dva-; Skt. dvi-; Gk. duo; L. duo ( Fr. deux); E. two; Ger. zwei) + peykar "figure, form, body" (from Mid.Pers. pahikar "picture, image;" from O.Pers. patikara- "picture, (sculpted) likeness," from patiy "against" (Av. paiti; Skt. prati; Gk. poti/proti) + kara- "doer, maker," from kar- "to do, make, build;" Av. kar-; Skr. kr-; cf. Skt. pratikrti- "an image, likeness, model; counterpart").

A → meteor shower that occurs in the first half of December, with its → radiant in the → constellation → Gemini. Geminids are pieces of debris from the extinct comet → 3200 Phaethon. The shower appears when Earth runs into a stream of the debris every year in mid-December, causing → meteors to fly from that constellation.

→ Gemini + → -ids.