| Ascendant (ASC) | The zodiac degree rising in the east at birth. Start of the 1st house |
| Descendant (DSC) | The point opposite the Ascendant, start of the 7th house |
| MC (Midheaven) | The highest point of the ecliptic over the place, start of the 10th house in most systems |
| IC | The point opposite the MC, start of the 4th house |
| Cusp | The starting point of a house |
| House | One of twelve sectors of the chart, each tied to areas of life |
| Aspect | A meaningful angle between two points: 0°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 180° and the minor ones |
| Orb | How far an aspect is from exact |
| Applying aspect | An aspect that is still getting closer |
| Retrograde (R) | A planet's apparent backward motion |
| Station | The moment a planet turns around |
| Ingress | A planet entering a new sign or house |
| Natal chart | The chart for the moment of birth |
| Transit | A planet's position on the current or chosen date, relative to the natal chart |
| Progression | Symbolic motion of the chart: one day after birth for one year of life |
| Direction | Moving every natal point by the same arc |
| Solar / lunar return | The chart for the moment the Sun (Moon) returns to its natal position |
| Synastry | Comparing two charts |
| Composite | A chart of the midpoints between two people's planets |
| Lot (Arabic part) | A point from the formula ASC + A − B |
| Midpoint | The point halfway between two points |
| Antiscion | The mirror point across the Cancer–Capricorn axis |
| Sect | Splitting charts and planets into diurnal and nocturnal |
| Almuten | The planet with the most dignity at a point or in a chart |
| Ayanamsa | The offset between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs |
| Nakshatra | One of the 27 lunar mansions of Indian astrology |
| Void-of-course Moon | The time from the Moon's last aspect in a sign until it leaves the sign |
| Lunar day | The time from one moonrise to the next |
| Fictitious point | A calculated point with no physical body: Selena, Proserpina, lots |
| Uranian planets | The Hamburg school's hypothetical planets |
| UTC | Universal Time, which the birth time is converted to |