The zodiac refers to the zodiac

The ecliptic refers to the path that the sun passes on the starry background in a year.

Around 500 BC, for the needs of astrology and astronomical exploration, the Babylonians divided the ecliptic into 12 segments, each of which was 30 degrees long, to mark the position of the sun in a month. The names of paragraphs naturally adopt the names of constellations on the ecliptic. This passage 12 was later collectively referred to as the zodiac in English or the zodiac in Chinese.