Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.
The star-shaped symbol *, which is used in printing and writing for various purposes, including to refer a reader to a note at the bottom of a page or in a margin, and to indicate the omission of letters or words; a star.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.
The star-shaped symbol *, which is used in printing and writing for various purposes, including to refer a reader to a note at the bottom of a page or in a margin, and to indicate the omission of letters or words; a star.
Something resembling or shaped like an asterisk symbol.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.
The star-shaped symbol *, which is used in printing and writing for various purposes, including to refer a reader to a note at the bottom of a page or in a margin, and to indicate the omission of letters or words; a star.
Something which is of little importance or which is marginal; a footnote.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated, figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.
The star-shaped symbol *, which is used in printing and writing for various purposes, including to refer a reader to a note at the bottom of a page or in a margin, and to indicate the omission of letters or words; a star.
A blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, dated, figuratively
Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.
An instrument with radiating arms resembling a star which is placed over the diskos (or paten) used during the Eucharist to prevent the veil covering the chalice and diskos from touching the host on the diskos.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
Qualifier: Eastern Orthodoxy
Topics: Catholicism, Christianity, Roman-Catholicism
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: star-cover
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To mark or replace (text, etc.) with an asterisk symbol (*; noun sense 1.1); to star.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
a star-shaped character * used in printing
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: star
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: character, grapheme, graphic symbol
verb
mark with an asterisk
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: star
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: mark
History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2eHs- Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *h2stḗr Proto-Hellenic *astḗr Ancient Greek ᾰ̓στήρ (ăstḗr) Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Ancient Greek -ῐ́σκος (-ĭ́skos) Ancient Greek ἀστερῐ́σκος (asterĭ́skos)bor. Late Latin asteriscusder. Middle English asterisk English asterisk The noun is derived from Middle English asterisk [and other forms], from Late Latin asteriscus (“asterisk; small star”), from Ancient Greek ἀστερῐ́σκος (asterĭ́skos, “asterisk; small star”), from ᾰ̓στήρ (ăstḗr, “celestial body (star, planet, and other lights in the sky such as meteors)”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h2eHs- (“to burn; to glow”)) + -ῐ́σκος (-ĭ́skos, diminutive suffix). Doublet of asteriscus and piecewise doublet of starrish. Noun sense 1.1.2 (“something which is of little importance or which is marginal”) refers to the use of an asterisk to denote a footnote or marginal note in a text; in other words, information that is not important enough to be incorporated into the main text. Noun sense 1.1.3 (“blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement”) refers to the use of an asterisk in a sporting record to indicate that the record is qualified in some manner (for example, that the sportsperson was found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs at the time). The verb is derived from the noun.
Across languages
126 source translations are retained for this English entry.
