Editing Almagest (section)

== Names ==
The name comes from Arabic {{lang|ar|اَلْمَجِسْطِيّ}} {{transliteration|ar|al-majisṭī}}, with {{lang|ar|اَلـ}} {{transliteration|ar|al-}} meaning '[[definite article|the]]' and {{transliteration|ar|majisṭī}} being a corruption of Greek {{lang|grc|μεγίστη}} {{transliteration|grc|megístē}} 'greatest'. The Arabic name was popularized by a Latin translation known as {{lang|ar|Almagestum}} made in the 12th century from an Arabic translation, which would endure until original Greek copies resurfaced in the 15th century.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The work was originally called {{lang|grc|Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις}} ({{Transliteration|grc|Mathēmatikḕ Sýntaxis}}) in [[Koine Greek]], as also in [[Modern Greek]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαίος - Μαθηματική Σύνταξις|url=https://www.astrology.gr/astrothesaurus/elliniki-kai-xenoglossi-vivliothiki/story/153209/klaydios-ptolemaios-mathimatiki-syntaxis/amp|access-date=April 3, 2025|language=el|date=October 29, 2021|first=Δέσποινα|last=Γιαννακοπούλου}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=ΜΑΘΗΜΑΤΙΚΗ ΣΥΝΤΑΞΙΣ (ΠΡΩΤΟΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ) / ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΣ|url=https://www.politeianet.gr/books/9789606716065-ptolemaios-eleutheri-skepsis-mathimatiki-suntaxis-protos-tomos-56272|access-date=April 3, 2025|language=el}}</ref> (primarily),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://schoolpress.sch.gr/testpat1/?p=83|title= Η "Αλμαγέστη"|date=April 14, 2014|access-date=April 3, 2025}}</ref> and was known as {{lang|la|Syntaxis Mathematica}} in [[Latin]]. The treatise was later called {{lang|grc|Ἡ Μεγάλη Σύνταξις}} ({{Transliteration|grc|Hē Megálē Sýntaxis}}), "The Great Treatise" ({{langx|la|Magna Syntaxis|links=no}}), and the superlative form of this ({{langx|grc|μεγίστη|label=Greek}} {{Transliteration|grc|megístē}}, 'greatest') lies behind the Arabic name from which the English name ''Almagest'' derives.

In the study of medieval Hebrew texts, the ''Almagest'' is sometimes referred to as "Ptolemy's ''Book of [[Electional astrology|Elections]]''",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://braginskycollection.com/portfolio/astronomical-and-astrological-miscellany/|website=Braginsky Collection|title=Astronomical and astrological miscellany|year=2016|first=Ardon|last=Bar-Hama}}</ref> to emphasize parallelism with [[Abraham ibn Ezra]]'s manuscript of the same name.<ref>{{cite book|title=Abraham Ibn Ezra on Elections, Interrogations, and Medical Astrology|series=Études sur le judaïsme médiéval|volume=50|first=Shlomo|last=Sela|date=9 Sep 2011|isbn=978-90-04-21445-3}}</ref>