faint constellation and 11th zodiac sign, late Old English, from Latin aquarius, literally "water carrier," properly an adjective, "pertaining to water" (see aquarium); a loan-translation of Greek Hydrokhoos "the water-pourer," the old Greek name of this constellation.
Aquarians were a former Christian sect that used water instead of wine at the Lord's Supper. Aquarian Age (alluded to from 1913) is an astrological epoch (based on precession of the equinoxes) supposed to have begun in the 20th century (though in one estimate, 1848), embodying the traits of this sign and characterized by world peace and human brotherhood. It would last approximately 2,160 years. The term and the concept probably got a boost in popular use from the rock song Age of Aquarius (1967) and when An Aquarian Exposition was used as the sub-name of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair (1969).