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Twelve animals in a fixed order.
Also known as: Chinese zodiac, Twelve animals
The Chinese series of twelve animals mapped onto the earthly branches and used to name years.
Names each year of a twelve-year cycle after an animal.
Contexts: History, Public information
Turns at a solar term rather than at midnight on the lunar New Year in the astrological reckoning, and at the lunar New Year in popular usage; the two conventions disagree for anyone born between them, which is why a person's animal is sometimes disputed.
Contexts: History, Public information
Is not the Chinese zodiac in the sense the Western zodiac is one: the Western signs divide the ecliptic into twelve arcs and these divide time into twelve years, so the two systems answer different questions and the shared English word is misleading.
Contexts: History, Public information
Twelve animal figures set in a fixed order around a ring, beginning with a rat and ending with a pig.
The character series these animals overlay.