"Scorpio" translates to "To tear to pieces"?

Question

I picked up a book about about the bad side of the zodiac signs awhile back, and I haven't found the same book in a store since. What I read in it is that Scorpio in egyptian translates to "To tear to pieces" or something like that, but I did an internet search and can find nothing that confirms it elsewhere. I'd just really like to know if it's true, so if someone could find a site somewhere that also says it, I'd be really gratefull ^_^

Answer 1

The Egyptian word for scorpio seems to have been Sāriqu, meaning "Strangler", according to this:

"King Serket (Ancient Egyptian Sāriqu "The Strangler"), often translated as King Scorpion or sometimes The Scorpion King, refers to one or two kings of Upper Egypt during the Protodynastic Period. His name may refer to the goddess Serket. The only evidence of his existence is a macehead found in Nekhen. He is believed to have lived just before or during the rule of Narmer at Thinis. He may have been a local king of Nekhen who had nothing to do with the ruling house of Thinis or a rival from within that family. Another theory makes him identical to Narmer as an alternate name. Recently a 5000 year old graffito has been discovered by Professor John Darnell of Yale University that also bears the symbols of King Scorpion and depicts his defeat of another predynastic ruler."

However, the word "scorpio" is derived from the Greek word skorpios, from the proto-Indo-European sker-, that means "to cut, hack, shear" ("shear" comes from the same word sker-). That sounds a lot like the "tear to pieces" that you mention.