saros

saros noun: a quantity of 3600, such as a period of 3600 years.

Noun (1)

saros (plural saroses or saroi)

(Babylon) A quantity of 3600, such as a period of 3600 years.
A period of 223 synodic months (approximately 18 years 11 days 8 hours), after which the relative positions of the earth, sun and moon recur, used to predict eclipses.
- Suidas’ system (the lunar system) is as follows: reckoning a round 30 days per lunar month, 1 saros ... = 222 lunar months ... rather than 3600 years, as in the solar system, the neros ... being one sixth of that ... instead of 600 years, as in the solar system, and the sossos ... one tenth of a...The Six Days of Creation, Appendix 3: The Sumerian King List — post-diluvian Section (§589)

Noun (2) capitalized: Saros

Saros

(plural) plural of Saro.

Forms of saros

plural	saroses
plural	saroi
alternative form	Saros

Origin of saros

From Ancient Greek σάρος (sáros), from Akkadian 𒊹 (šar₂ /⁠šār⁠/, “3600, total, many, a great quantity or measure”). The modern astronomical usage is attributed to Edmond Halley, who based it on the word σάρος (sáros), defined in the Suda as "a measure and a number among Chaldeans. For 120 saroi make 2222 years according to the Chaldeans' reckoning, if indeed the saros makes 222 lunar months, which are 18 years and 6 months."

Questions about saros

What does saros mean?: Saros means a quantity of 3600, such as a period of 3600 years.
What part of speech is saros?: Saros is a noun.
What is the plural of saros?: The plural of saros is saroses.

Words near saros in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: saros (page history and authors); Saros (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-saros.oga.

Cite this entry: “saros.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/saros. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.