Stellar - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

stel·lar

Audio Help [stel-er] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	of or pertaining to the stars; consisting of stars.

2.	like a star, as in brilliance, shape, etc.

3.	pertaining to a preeminent performer, athlete, etc.

[Origin: 1650–60; < LL stellāris, equiv. to stell(a) star + -ārius -ar¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Stellar

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

stel·lar Audio Help (stěl'ər) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Of, relating to, or consisting of stars.
1. Of or relating to a star performer.
2. Outstanding; principal.

[Late Latin stēllāris, from Latin stēlla, star; see ster-³ in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
stellar

1656, "pertaining to stars, star-like," from L. stellaris "pertaining to a star, starry," from stella (see star). Meaning "outstanding, leading" (1883) is from the theatrical sense of star.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

stellar
adjective
1.	indicating the most important performer or role; "the leading man"; "prima ballerina"; "prima donna"; "a star figure skater"; "the starring role"; "a stellar role"; "a stellar performance" [syn: leading]
2.	being or relating to or resembling or emanating from stars; "an astral body"; "stellar light"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
stellar [ˈstelə] adjective

of stars
Example: stellar clusters

Arabic:	نَجْمي، كَواكِبي
Chinese (Simplified):	星（体、形）的
Chinese (Traditional):	星(體、形)的
Czech:	hvězdný
Danish:	stjerne-
Dutch:	sterren©
Estonian:	tähe-
Finnish:	tähti-
French:	stellaire
German:	Sternen-…
Greek:	αστρικός
Hungarian:	csillag-
Icelandic:	stjörnu-
Indonesian:	mengenai bintang
Italian:	stellare

Japanese:	星の
Korean:	별의, 별 모양의
Latvian:	zvaigžņu-; zvaigžņveida-
Lithuanian:	žvaigždžių
Norwegian:	stjerne-
Polish:	gwiezdny
Portuguese (Brazil):	estelar
Portuguese (Portugal):	estelar
Romanian:	stelar
Russian:	звёздный
Slovak:	hviezdny
Slovenian:	zvezden
Swedish:	stjärn-
Turkish:	yıldızlara ait

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

stellar Audio Help (stěl'ər) Pronunciation Key
Relating to or consisting of stars.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Stellar

Star\ (st[aum]r), n. [OE. sterre, AS. steorra; akin to OFries. stera, OS. sterro, D. ster, OHG. sterno, sterro, G. stern, Icel. stjarna, Sw. stjerna, Dan. stierne, Goth. sta['i]rn[=o], Armor. & Corn. steren, L. stella, Gr. 'asth`r, 'a`stron, Skr. star; perhaps from a root meaning, to scatter, Skr. st[.r], L. sternere (cf. Stratum), and originally applied to the stars as being strewn over the sky, or as being scatterers or spreaders of light. [root]296. Cf. Aster, Asteroid, Constellation, Disaster, Stellar.]

1. One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebul[ae].

His eyen twinkled in his head aright, As do the stars in the frosty night. --Chaucer.

Note: The stars are distinguished as planets, and fixed stars. See Planet, Fixed stars under Fixed, and Magnitude of a star under Magnitude.

2. The polestar; the north star. --Shak.

3. (Astrol.) A planet supposed to influence one's destiny; (usually pl.) a configuration of the planets, supposed to influence fortune.

O malignant and ill-brooding stars. --Shak.

Blesses his stars, and thinks it luxury. --Addison.

4. That which resembles the figure of a star, as an ornament worn on the breast to indicate rank or honor.

On whom . . . Lavish Honor showered all her stars. --Tennyson.

5. Specifically, a radiated mark in writing or printing; an asterisk [thus, *]; -- used as a reference to a note, or to fill a blank where something is omitted, etc.

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

7. A person of brilliant and attractive qualities, especially on public occasions, as a distinguished orator, a leading theatrical performer, etc.

Note: Star is used in the formation of compound words generally of obvious signification: as, star-aspiring, star-bespangled, star-bestudded, star-blasting, star-bright, star-crowned, star-directed, star-eyed, star-headed, star-paved, star-roofed; star-sprinkled, star-wreathed.

Blazing star, Double star, Multiple star, Shooting star, etc. See under Blazing, Double, etc.

Nebulous star (Astron.), a small well-defined circular nebula, having a bright nucleus at its center like a star.

Star anise (Bot.), any plant of the genus Illicium; -- so called from its star-shaped capsules.

Star apple (Bot.), a tropical American tree (Chrysophyllum Cainito), having a milky juice and oblong leaves with a silky-golden pubescence beneath. It bears an applelike fruit, the carpels of which present a starlike figure when cut across. The name is extended to the whole genus of about sixty species, and the natural order (Sapotace[ae]) to which it belongs is called the Star-apple family.

Star conner, one who cons, or studies, the stars; an astronomer or an astrologer. --Gascoigne.

Star coral (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of stony corals belonging to Astr[ae]a, Orbicella, and allied genera, in which the calicles are round or polygonal and contain conspicuous radiating septa.

Star cucumber. (Bot.) See under Cucumber.

Star flower. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Ornithogalum; star-of-Bethlehem. (b) See Starwort (b) . (c) An American plant of the genus Trientalis (Trientalis Americana). --Gray.

Star fort (Fort.), a fort surrounded on the exterior with projecting angles; -- whence the name.

Star gauge (Ordnance), a long rod, with adjustable points projecting radially at its end, for measuring the size of different parts of the bore of a gun.

Star grass. (Bot.) (a) A small grasslike plant (Hypoxis erecta) having star-shaped yellow flowers. (b) The colicroot. See Colicroot.

Star hyacinth (Bot.), a bulbous plant of the genus Scilla (S. autumnalis); -- called also star-headed hyacinth.

Star jelly (Bot.), any one of several gelatinous plants (Nostoc commune, N. edule, etc.). See Nostoc.

Star lizard. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Stellion.

Star-of-Bethlehem (Bot.), a bulbous liliaceous plant (Ornithogalum umbellatum) having a small white starlike flower.

Star-of-the-earth (Bot.), a plant of the genus Plantago (P. coronopus), growing upon the seashore.

Star polygon (Geom.), a polygon whose sides cut each other so as to form a star-shaped figure.

Stars and Stripes, a popular name for the flag of the United States, which consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternately red and white, and a union having, in a blue field, white stars to represent the several States, one for each.

With the old flag, the true American flag, the Eagle, and the Stars and Stripes, waving over the chamber in which we sit. --D. Webster.

Star showers. See Shooting star, under Shooting.

Star thistle (Bot.), an annual composite plant (Centaurea solstitialis) having the involucre armed with radiating spines.

Star wheel (Mach.), a star-shaped disk, used as a kind of ratchet wheel, in repeating watches and the feed motions of some machines.

Star worm (Zo["o]l.), a gephyrean.

Temporary star (Astron.), a star which appears suddenly, shines for a period, and then nearly or quite disappears. These stars are supposed by some astronometers to be variable stars of long and undetermined periods.

Variable star (Astron.), a star whose brilliancy varies periodically, generally with regularity, but sometimes irregularly; -- called periodical star when its changes occur at fixed periods.

Water star grass (Bot.), an aquatic plant (Schollera graminea) with small yellow starlike blossoms.

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