star.
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.
Meaning & usage
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.
He loved watching the stars in the sky with her.
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.
What's in the stars for you today? Find out in our horoscope.
star-crossed (meaning 'ill-fated')
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
three-star general
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.
senses relating to fame An actor in a leading role.
Many Hollywood stars attended the launch party.
senses relating to fame An exceptionally talented or famous person, often in a specific field; a celebrity.
His teacher tells us he is a star pupil.
I met my favourite star at the public event.
senses relating to fame (Someone's) success or fame.
A friend, a mate, a pal.
A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding in the air, presents a starlike appearance.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr Proto-Germanic *sternǭ Proto-West Germanic *sternō Proto-West Germanic *sterrō Old English steorra Middle English sterre English star 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; related to estoile, étoile, stella, and stelo. 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 and 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”), Romansh 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”).
To appear as a featured performer or headliner, especially in an entertainment program.
She starred in dozens of silent movies.
To feature (a performer or a headliner), especially in a movie or an entertainment program.
The show stars Calista Flockhart as a high-powered lawyer.
To mark with a star or asterisk.
To set or adorn with stars, or bright, radiating bodies; to bespangle.
To shine like a star.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr Proto-Germanic *sternǭ Proto-West Germanic *sternō Proto-West Germanic *sterrō Old English steorra Middle English sterre English star 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; related to estoile, étoile, stella, and stelo. 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 and 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”), Romansh 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”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.