Standard Lemma guide

interstellar

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N T ER0 S T EH1 L ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Between the stars.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • It can take centuries for light to travel interstellar distances.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Among the stars.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • Space is littered with interstellar particles.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

between or among stars

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the density of hydrogen in interplanetary and interstellar space

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1én Proto-Indo-European *h1entér Proto-Italic *n̥ter Latin inter Latin inter-bor. English inter- Latin stēllārisbor. English stellar English interstellar From inter- + stellar.

Across languages

Translations

71 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: ndëryjor — between stars
  • Armenian: միջաստղային (miǰastġayin) — between stars
  • Azerbaijani: ulduzlararası — between stars
  • Bulgarian: междузвезден (mežduzvezden) — between stars
  • Catalan: interestel·lar — between stars
  • Chinese Mandarin: 星際 /星际 (xīngjì) — between stars
  • Czech: mezihvězdný — between stars
  • Danish: interstellar — between stars
  • Dutch: interstellair — between stars
  • Esperanto: interstela — between stars
  • Finnish: tähtienvälinen — between stars
  • Finnish: interstellaarinen — between stars
  • French: interstellaire — between stars
  • French: intersidéral — between stars
  • Galician: interestelar — between stars
  • Georgian: ვარსკვლავთშორისი (varsḳvlavtšorisi) — between stars
  • German: interstellar — between stars
  • Greek: διαστρικός (diastrikós) — between stars
  • Greek: διάστερος (diásteros) — between stars
  • Greek: μεταξύ αστέρων (metaxý astéron) — between stars
  • Greek: ενδοστερικός (endosterikós) — between stars
  • Hindi: अंतरतारकीय (antratārkīya) — between stars
  • Hungarian: csillagközi — between stars
  • Indonesian: lintas bintang — between stars
  • Irish: idir-réaltach — between stars
  • Italian: interstellare — between stars
  • Kazakh: жұлдызаралық (jūldyzaralyq) — between stars
  • Korean: 별과 별사이의 (byeolgwa byeolsai-ui) — between stars
  • Kyrgyz: жылдыздар аралык (jıldızdar aralık) — between stars
  • Latvian: starpzvaigžņu — between stars
  • Lithuanian: tarpžvaigždinis — between stars
  • Macedonian: меѓу́ѕвезден (meǵúdzvezden) — between stars
  • Malay: antara bintang — between stars
  • Malay: antara najam — between stars
  • Norwegian: interstellar — between stars
  • Polish: międzygwiezdny — between stars
  • Polish: międzygwiazdowy — between stars
  • Portuguese: interestelar — between stars
  • Romanian: interstelar — between stars
  • Romanian: interastral — between stars
  • Russian: межзвёздный (mežzvjózdnyj) — between stars
  • Russian: междузвёздный (mežduzvjózdnyj) — between stars
  • Sanskrit: अन्तर्तारकीय (antartārakīya) — between stars
  • Slovak: medzihviezdny — between stars
  • Spanish: interestelar — between stars
  • Swedish: interstellär — between stars
  • Turkish: yıldızlararası — between stars
  • Turkmen: ýyldyzlarara — between stars
  • Ukrainian: міжзо́ряний (mižzórjanyj) — between stars
  • Welsh: rhyngserol — between stars
  • Albanian: ndëryjor — among stars
  • Chinese Mandarin: 星际 (xīngjì) — among stars
  • Esperanto: interstela — among stars
  • Finnish: tähtienvälinen — among stars
  • Finnish: interstellaarinen — among stars
  • Georgian: ვარსკვლავთშორისი (varsḳvlavtšorisi) — among stars
  • German: interstellar — among stars
  • Greek: διαστρικός (diastrikós) — among stars
  • Hindi: अंतरतारकीय (antratārkīya) — among stars
  • Hungarian: csillagközi — among stars
  • Irish: idir-réaltach — among stars
  • Latvian: starpzvaigžņu — among stars
  • Lithuanian: tarpžvaigždinis — among stars
  • Polish: międzygwiezdny — among stars
  • Polish: międzygwiazdowy — among stars
  • Portuguese: interestelar — among stars
  • Russian: межзвёздный (mežzvjózdnyj) — among stars
  • Russian: междузвёздный (mežduzvjózdnyj) — among stars
  • Spanish: interestelar — among stars
  • Swedish: interstellär — among stars
  • Turkish: yıldızlararası — among stars
Real reading context

interstellar in complete knowledge articles