aster
Use Aster in a sentence
tər noun
1.
any composite plant of the genus Aster, having rays varying from white or pink to blue around a yellow disk.
2.
a plant of some allied genus, as the China aster.
3.
Cell Biology. a structure formed in a cell during mitosis, composed of astral rays radiating about the centrosome.
4.
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Aster
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
-aster
1a diminutive or pejorative suffix denoting something that imperfectly resembles or mimics the true thing: criticaster; poetaster, oleaster.
Origin:
< Latin
< Latin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To aster
Collins
World English Dictionary
aster (ˈæstə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | Compare golden aster any plant of the genus Aster, having white, blue, purple, or pink daisy-like flowers: family Asteraceae (composites) |
| 2. | China aster a related Chinese plant, Callistephus chinensis, widely cultivated for its showy brightly coloured flowers |
| 3. | cytology a group of radiating microtubules that surrounds the centrosome before and during mitosis |
| [C18: from New Latin, from Latin aster star, from Greek] | |
| -aster | |
| —suffix forming nouns | |
| a person or thing that is inferior or bears only a poor resemblance to what is specified: poetaster | |
| [from Latin: suffix indicating imperfect resemblance] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
Aster
flower genus, 1706, from L. aster "star" (see star); so called for the radiate heads of the flowers.
-aster
suffix expressing incomplete resemblance (e.g. poetaster), usually dim. and deprecatory, from L., from Gk. -aster, suffix originally forming nouns from verbs ending in -azein, later generalized as a pejorative suffix, e.g. patraster "he who plays the father."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
aster as·ter (ās'tər)
n.
See astrosphere.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Kick a pile of fallen leaves beside a path in the park and a wild aster pops up.
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