star
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɑː(ɹ)/
enpr: stär
ipa: /stɑɹ/
ipa: /staː(ɹ)/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
Forms: form: stars
Etymology: From Middle English sterre, from Old English steorra (“star”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterrō, variant of *sternō, from Proto-Germanic *sternô, *sternǭ (“star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”). Doublet of aster, stella, étoile, and estoile.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots starn, ster (“star”), Yola starr, steor (“star”), Saterland Frisian Stiern (“star”), West Frisian stjer (“star”), Cimbrian stèrn (“star”), Dutch ster (“star”), German Stern (“star”), Luxembourgish Stär (“star”), Mòcheno stern (“star”), Vilamovian śtaom (“star”), Yiddish שטערן (shtern, “star”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål stjerne (“star”), Faroese stjørna (“star”), Gutnish stjännå (“star”), Icelandic stjarna (“star”), Norwegian Nynorsk skjødna, stjerne (“star”), Swedish stjärna (“star”), Crimean Gothic stein (“star”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō, “star”), French étoile (“star”), Istriot stila (“star”), Istro-Romanian ste (“star”), Italian stella (“star”), Megleno-Romanian steau̯ă (“star”), Mirandese streilha (“star”), Occitan estela (“star”), Portuguese estrela (“star”), Romansch staila (“star”), Romanian stea (“star”), Sardinian isteddu (“star”), Sicilian stidda (“star”), Spanish estrella (“star”), Venetan stéła (“star”), Walloon sitoele (“star”), Latin stēlla (“star”), Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr, “star”), Greek αστέρι (astéri, “star”), Old Armenian աստղ (astł, “star”), Persian ستاره (setâre, “star”), Tajik ситора (sitora, “star”), Pashto ستوری (storay, “star”), Mazanderani اساره (ëssâre, “star”), Northern Kurdish stêr (“star”), Central Kurdish ئەستێرە (estêre, “star”), Zazaki astare (“star”), Ossetian стъалы (st’aly, “star”), Hindi तारा (tārā, “star”), Urdu تارا (tārā, “star”), Punjabi ਤਾਰਾ (tārā, “star”), Gujarati તારો (tāro, “star”), Sanskrit तारा (tārā, “star”).
Senses: examples: text: He loved watching the stars in the sky with her.
glosses: Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.
examples: text: What's in the stars for you today? Find out in our horoscope.
text: star-crossed (meaning 'ill-fated')
text: But O malignant and ill-boading Starres,[…]
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], page 112, column 2:
text: Men bless their stars and call it luxury.
ref: 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
text: But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 69–70:
topics: astrology
human-sciences
mysticism
philosophy
sciences
glosses: Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.
A planet thought to influence one's fate; (figuratively) fate or luck.
qualifier: typically in the plural
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: A very massive ball of plasma with strong enough gravity to have ongoing fusion of hydrogen or heavier elements in its core. In strict technical usage, the Sun is included.
examples: text: Above all, the 48-page timetables of the new service, which have been distributed free at every station in the scheme, are a model to the rest of B.R. For the first time on British Railways, so far as we are aware, a substantial timetable has been produced, not only without a single footnote but also devoid of all wearisome asterisks, stars, letter suffixes and other hieroglyphics.
ref: 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714:
topics: media
printing
publishing
glosses: senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
A shape made of a few streaks meeting at a shared midpoint.
An asterisk (*) or comparable symbol (e.g., ★, ☆, ✶, ✦, ✧, ✷, ✪, ⭐) inspired by a celestial star.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
networking
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
A shape made of a few streaks meeting at a shared midpoint.
A network topology with multiple computers individually merging to one central switch, thus free of risk of collisions. A single point of failure can occur if the switch experiences corruption.
raw_tags: in origin
glosses: senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
A shape made of a few streaks meeting at a shared midpoint.
A simple dance, or part of a dance, where a group of four dancers each put their right or left hand in the middle and turn around in a circle. You call them right-hand stars or left-hand stars, depending on the hand which is in the middle.
examples: text: […]on whom […] / Lavish Honour shower’d all her stars,[…]
ref: 1852, Alfred Tennyson, “Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza 8, page 132:
text: three-star general
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
A concave polygon with regular, pointy protrusions and indentations, usually with four, five, or six points.
A star-shaped ornament worn on the breast to indicate rank or honour in a military. Now often used metonymically for military rankings.
qualifier: shapes
examples: text: And the first music review I remember reading was in Rolling Stone, which rated albums on a scale of one to five stars, or so I thought. In 1990, the début solo album by Andrew Ridgeley, who had sung alongside George Michael in the pop duo Wham!, was awarded only half a star.
ref: 2025 August 25, Kelefa Sanneh, “How Music Criticism Lost Its Edge”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
A concave polygon with regular, pointy protrusions and indentations, usually with four, five, or six points.
A symbol used to rate hotels, films, etc. with a higher number of stars denoting better quality.
qualifier: shapes
examples: text: Many Hollywood stars attended the launch party.
topics: acting
broadcasting
entertainment
film
lifestyle
media
television
theater
glosses: senses relating to fame
An actor in a leading role.
examples: text: His teacher tells us he is a star pupil.
text: I met my favourite star at the public event.
text: Star reporter, leg-man, cub, veteran gray in the trade—one and all they tried to pin the Bat like a caught butterfly to the front page of their respective journals—soon or late each gave up, beaten. He was news—[…]—the brief, staccato recital of his career in the morgues of the great dailies grew longer and more incredible each day.
ref: 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, “The Shadow of the Bat”, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 8:
glosses: senses relating to fame
An exceptionally talented or famous person, often in a specific field; a celebrity.
examples: text: someone's star is rising / has risen
text: It’s only in hindsight that I’m able to appreciate just how high my star had risen. I’d gone from being the student who couldn’t speak in class to being the teacher of the language of a new age, from the child of modest, middle-class Beltway parents to the man living the island life and making so much money that it had lost its meaning.
ref: 2020 [2019 September 17], Edward Snowden, Permanent Record (autobiography; paperback), Pan Books, →ISBN:
glosses: senses relating to fame
(Someone's) success or fame.
examples: text: "Wha'ppen, star!" Hector said, grinning to reveal a gold-capped tooth. He told everyone it was solid twenty-four carat, but if it was, he would have wrenched it out with pliers to pawn to the highest bidder by now.
ref: 2003, Michael Maynard, Games Men Play, page 127:
text: Hello claat, what you doing spar?[…]It's got three ring tones, that's the name for the ring. There's this one, right (ring tone sounds). That's fucking safe, spar. But mostly, I bought it for this, check this one out, claat!
ref: 2003, “Soap Bar”, in The Manifesto, performed by Goldie Looking Chain:
text: Switches character to the street-wise Ragamuffin, speaking out of the corner of his mouth in Creole: "Whappen now star! Seckle, seckle now people! Cool, cool na baass! [what is happening friends? Settle down]
ref: 2017, Les Back, New Ethnicities and Urban Culture: Racisms and Multiculture in Young Lives:
text: 'Dey ain't mine,' Stacey snapped, flicking her head towards the yutes in the bedroom. 'I'm juss lookin after dem fi mi fren dem. I only av six pickney by tree men enuh, star.'
ref: 2022, Moses McKenzie, An Olive Grove in Ends:
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: A friend, a mate, a pal.
glosses: A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding in the air, presents a starlike appearance.
Synonyms: word: aster
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
word: ✶
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
word: ＊
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
word: sun
word: star
Hypernyms: topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
word: celestial body
Hyponyms: word: Ae star
word: barium star
word: Be star
word: binary star
word: blue hook star
word: boson star
word: carbon star
word: clock star
word: compact star
word: dark star
word: death star
word: double star
word: dwarf star
word: early-type star
word: exotic star
word: faxed star
word: fixed star
word: flare star
word: frozen star
word: giant star
word: guide star
word: helium star
word: infant star
word: low mass star
word: multiple star
word: neutron star
word: north star
word: orphan star
word: Planck star
word: polar star
word: pole star
word: proto-neutron star
word: protoneutron star
word: protostar
word: quadruple star
word: quark star
word: red giant
word: reference star
word: shell star
word: shooting star
word: single star
word: superstar
word: symbiotic star
word: telescopic star
word: trinary star
word: triple star
word: T Tauri star
word: white dwarf
word: Wolf-Rayet star
word: Barnard's Star
word: Dog Star
word: Garnet Star
word: North Star
word: brown dwarf
word: red dwarf
word: blue giant
word: blue supergiant
word: red supergiant
word: nova
word: supernova
word: pulsar
word: magnetar
Derived terms: 5-star
action star
adult star
aim for the stars
all-star
amylum star
angstrom star
antistar
Argead star
astar
A star
back-cloth star
barnstar
barn star
barn-star
bar star
basket star
bat star
bearded star
Besselian star number
bestar
binary star
bistar
black hole star
blazingstar
blazing star
blitzar
bluestar
blue star
bog star
bold star
bright and morning star
brittle star
Bronze Star
Brunswick star
Burmese star tortoise
chemically peculiar star
Christmas Star
Christmas star
collapsar
costar
co-star
count one's lucky stars
day star
daystar
double star
Druze star
dwarf star
earthstar
enstar
Eurostar
evening star
evenstar
falling star
faxed-star
feather star
field star
film star
five-star
forest star
gender star
Georgian star
Gold Star
gold star
gold star family
gold star father
gold star gay
gold star lesbian
gold star mother
gold star parent
gold star wife
gravastar
guest star
guest-star
guiding star
hitch one's wagon to a star
Hodge star
Hubble's Star
Indian star tortoise
instar
in the stars
Kleene star
late-type star
lodestar
lone star tick
lucky star
main-sequence star
megastar
Mexican star
Michelin star
Mittag-Leffler star
Moravian star
morning star
movie star
multiple star
multistarrer
my stars
nanostar
neutron star
ninja star
nonstar
oh my stars
one-star
O star
pole-star
pop star
porn star
porn-star martini
porn-star name
prairie star
promise the stars
Provo all-star
pseudostar
pulsar
quasi-star
quasistar
quintuple star system
radio star
reach for the stars
Red Star
rising star
rockstar
rock star
rosy feather star
runaway star
sand star
sea-star
sea star
seastar
stars
semistar
serpent star
smallflower woodland star
soapstar
Sputnik star
standard star
star-69
star 69
star activity
star anise
star aniseed
star apple
star attraction
Starbase
star base
starbase
starbath
starbathe
starbeam
star begonia
star billing
starbirth
starboard
starbound
starboy
starburst
star cactus
starcast
star chamber
star chart
starchitect
starchitecture
Star City
star city
star-city
star clock
star cloud
star cluster
star-cover
starcraft
star crossed
star-crossed
starcruiser
star cucumber
stardate
stardock
stardom
stardrift
stardrive
star drive
star-drive
star duckweed
stardust
stareater
star factory
starfall
starfaring
starfield
starfighter
starfilled
star finch
starfish
star fleet
starflower
star-forming
star fort
star frame
starfrontlet
star fruit
starfruit
starfuck
star-fucker
starfucker
starfucking
starful
stargate
Stargateverse
star gauge
stargaze
stargazer
star grass
star height
starhood
star hyacinth
star in the east
Star Island
star it
star jasmine
star jelly
star jump
starless
starlet
star lifting
starlight
starlighted
starlike
starliner
starlit
starlitten
star lizard
starlore
starly
star macromolecule
star magnolia
star-maker
starmaker
starmaking
starman
star mangrove
star-map
starmatter
star meat
starmonger
starnose
star-nosed mole
star note
star of anise
Star of Bethlehem
star-of-Bethlehem
Star of David
star-of-the-earth
Star of the Sea
star of Vergina
star packer
star pagoda
star pass
star picket
star pine
star plate
star plot
star polygon
star polyhedron
star polymer
starport
star prisoner
star prize
star projector
starproof
starquake
star quality
star quartz
star-reed
starrer
star ring
starrise
starrish
star rot
star route
star ruby
starry
starry-eyed
stars align
star sapphire
stars are aligned
starscape
star schema
Star Scout
star section
star sedge
star seed
starset
starshade
star shell
starshine
starship
star shot
star shower
star-shower
star sign
stars in one's eyes
star sixty-nine
star-sixty-nine
starsnout
starspot
starstone
star stream
star-strewn
star-struck
star-studded
starstuff
star system
star the glaze
star thistle
starthistle
star-thistle
starthroat
star topology
startracker
star tracker
star trail
Star Trek
star-triangle relation
star turn
star up
star vault
star-vehicle
star vehicle
star vessel
starviolet
star violet
star visitor
starward
starwards
Star Wars
starweed
star wheel
starwheel
starwise
star witness
star word
starwort
strangeon star
strange quark star
strange star
substar
sunflower sea star
sunflower star
sun star
superstar
technetium star
television star
thank one's lucky stars
thank one's stars
three-star
three stars
throwing star
track star
tristar
under a lucky star
under the stars
unstar
variable star
venous star
Vergina star
very low mass star
wandering star
wanderstar
wish upon a star
Wolfstar
woodland star
worm-star
WTF Star
yellow star
zombie star
Related terms: word: estoile
word: étoile
word: stella
word: stellar
word: :Category:Stars