star

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /stɑː(ɹ)/

  • Audio (London):

    (file)

  • Audio (London):

    (file)

• (US) enPR: stär, IPA^(key): /stɑɹ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /staː(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Noun

star (plural stars)

1. Any small, natural and bright dot appearing in the unobscured sky, especially in the night or twilight sky.
3. (astronomy) A spheroid of plasma with sufficient gravity to fuse hydrogen or heavier elements into heavier elements still. Depending on context the Sun may or may not be included.
4. (geometry) A concave polygon with regular, pointy protrusions and indentations, usually with four, five, or six points.
5. (acting) An actor in a leading role.

   Many Hollywood stars attended the launch party.

6. An exceptionally talented or famous person, often in a specific field; a celebrity.

   His teacher tells us he is a star pupil.

   • 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:

     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.

7. (Jamaica, MLE, African-American Vernacular) (by extension) A friend, a mate, a pal.
   • 2003, Michael Maynard, Games Men Play, page 127:

     "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.

   • 2017, Les Back, New Ethnicities and Urban Culture: Racisms and Multiculture in Young Lives‎:

     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]

   • 2022, Moses McKenzie, An Olive Grove in Ends‎:

     '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.'

8. (printing) An asterisk (*) or symbol (★).
   • 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714:

     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.

9. A symbol used to rate hotels, films, etc. with a higher number of stars denoting better quality.
10. 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.
11. (astrology) A planet supposed to influence one's destiny.

    What's in the stars for you today? Find out in our horoscope.

    • 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:

      But O malignant and ill-boading Starres, […]

    • 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:

      Men bless their stars and call it luxury.

    • 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:

      But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, […] . By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come.

12. A star-shaped ornament worn on the breast to indicate rank or honour.
    • 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:

      […] on whom […] / Lavish Honour shower’d all her stars, […]

13. A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding in the air, presents a starlike appearance.
14. (networking) 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.

Verb

star (third-person singular simple present stars, present participle starring, simple past and past participle starred)

1. (intransitive) To appear as a featured performer or headliner, especially in an entertainment program.

   She starred in dozens of silent movies.

   • 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:

     I was inundated with invitations; […] I felt, indeed, much as a great actor must when he goes 'starring' in the provinces.

2. (transitive) 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.

   • 2004, David W. Menefee, The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era, page 4:

     "What followed this decision was exactly what we had expected: Mr. Fox, realizing that the public was tiring of Theda Bara in vampire roles, announced that he would star her in a production of Romeo and Juliet," she illustrated.

3. (transitive) To mark with a star or asterisk.
4. (transitive) To set or adorn with stars, or bright, radiating bodies; to bespangle.
   • 1745, [Edward Young], “Night the Ninth and Last. The Consolation. Containing, among Other Things, I. A Moral Survey of the Nocturnal Heavens. II. A Night-Address to the Deity. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: […] [Samuel Richardson] for A[ndrew] Millar […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1750, →OCLC, page 314:

     Thy gloomy Grandeurs (Nature’s moſt auguſt, / Inſpiring Aſpect!) claim a grateful Verſe; / And, like a ſable Curtain ſtarr’d with Gold, / Drawn o’er my Labours paſt, ſhall cloſe the Scene.

5. (intransitive) To shine like a star.

See also

• astronomy
• black hole
• galaxy
• moon
• mullet
• planet

Further reading

• star on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Stars on Wikiquote.Wikiquote

Anagrams

• tars, sart, ARTS, arts., 'rats, tsar, tars-, ARTs, rats, Sart, srat, Srta., RATs, RAST, Arts, stra., Srta, arts, astr-, TSRA, RTAs, TRAs

Etymology

From Middle Dutch star, from Old Dutch *star, from Proto-West Germanic *star, from Proto-Germanic *staraz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɑr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: star
• Rhymes: -ɑr

Adjective

star (comparative starder, superlative starst)

1. stiff, frozen
2. rigid

Further reading

• “star” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

Etymology

Borrowed from English star. Doublet of aster.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /staʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

star f (plural stars)

1. star (celebrity)

   Elle est devenue star. ― She's become a star.

Further reading

• “star”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• arts, rats, tsar

Etymology

Borrowed from English star.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstar/
• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: stàr

Noun

star f (invariable)

1. star (celebrity)

Anagrams

• stra-, tras-

Noun

star (plural star dem, quantified star)

1. A friend, a mate, a pal
   • 2008 August 26, “Kill Dem” (track 9), in Most Wanted‎, performed by Vybz Kartel:

     Me full ah gun pon di Gaza. Run some boy file and find out dem a barber. Jah know star, what dem ah try?

     I empty a gun on the Gaza. I run some boy's file and find out they're a barber. God knows mate, what are they trying to do?

   • 2009, “Whe Dem A Go Run Go”‎performed by Vybz Kartel, 01:58-02:01:

     Whe dem a go run go, Whe dem a go run go star? Start way dem caan run go far.

     Where are they going to, where are they going to run to friend? They start to go away but they can’t get far (before getting shot).

Alternative forms

• stara

Etymology

From Arabic سِتَار (sitār).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /staːr/
• Rhymes: -aːr

Noun

star m (plural stari)

1. veil

   Synonym: (commoner) velu

Etymology

From Latin stāre.

Verb

star

1. to be (indicates a temporary state)

See also

• ser

Etymology

Akin to Central Kurdish ستار (star, “retire, retreat, take refuge”), originally a descendant of Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- but now conflated with Arabic سِتَار (sitār), hence the second sense. Proposed to be the name of an ancient deity by some based on the common expression "Ya Star!" ("O Star!", said to ask God for endurance and strength).

Noun

star f

1. standing, the ability to stand or stay at one's place, strength, energy; not worrying or being bored, calmness.
2. protection, coverage

Noun

star m (definite singular staren, indefinite plural starar, definite plural starane)

1. alternative form of stare

Noun

star m (definite singular staren, indefinite plural starar, definite plural starane)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of stær

Verb

star (first-person singular present stou, first-person singular preterite stive, past participle stado)

1. Obsolete spelling of estar.

Etymology

Borrowed from English star. Doublet of aster and stea.

Noun

star n (plural staruri)

1. star (famous person)

Etymology

From Italian stare (“to be”).

Verb

star

1. to be

References

• Feissat et Demonchy, Dictionnaire de la Langue Franque, ou Petit Mauresque

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *starъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stâr/

Adjective

stȁr (Cyrillic spelling ста̏р, definite stȃrī, comparative stàrijī)

1. old

   Antonym: mlad

Further reading

• “star”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024
• “star”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *starъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stár/

Adjective

stȁr (comparative starȇjši, superlative nȁjstarȇjši)

1. old, aged

   Antonym: mlad

   Star sem dvajset let. ― I'm twenty years old.

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

More information Hard, masculine ...

Hard
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nom. sing.	stàr	stára	stáro
singular
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	stàr ind stári def	stára	stáro
genitive	stárega	stáre	stárega
dative	stáremu	stári	stáremu
accusative	nominativeinan or genitiveanim	stáro	stáro
locative	stárem	stári	stárem
instrumental	stárim	stáro	stárim
dual
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	stára	stári	stári
genitive	stárih	stárih	stárih
dative	stárima	stárima	stárima
accusative	stára	stári	stári
locative	stárih	stárih	stárih
instrumental	stárima	stárima	stárima
plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	stári	stáre	stára
genitive	stárih	stárih	stárih
dative	stárim	stárim	stárim
accusative	stáre	stáre	stára
locative	stárih	stárih	stárih
instrumental	stárimi	stárimi	stárimi

Close

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “star”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “star”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Etymology

From Latin stāre. Compare Italian stare.

Verb

star

1. (transitive) To stay or remain
2. (transitive) To live (somewhere)