Procyon

[ proh-see-on ]

nounAstronomy.
  1. a first-magnitude star in the constellation Canis Minor.

Origin of Procyon

1
1650–60; <Latin <Greek Prokýōn name of a star, equivalent to pro-pro-2 + kýōn dog (see hound1); so called because it rises just before Sirius, the Dog Star

Words Nearby Procyon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Procyon in a sentence

  • I heard talk, in the Procyon port, of a spy that had managed to get through on a Lhari ship.

    The Colors of Space | Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • One day, at last, he stood at the viewport, watching Procyon Alpha nearing.

    The Colors of Space | Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • The companion of Sirius is about ten magnitudes and that of Procyon about twelve magnitudes fainter than the star itself.

    A Text-Book of Astronomy | George C. Comstock
  • The other is the cruiser Procyon, the only real warship on Uller, with a main battery of four 200-mm guns.

    Uller Uprising | Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr
  • In 1834 and 1840 he began to suspect a want of uniformity in the proper motion of Sirius and Procyon respectively.

    History of Astronomy | George Forbes

British Dictionary definitions for Procyon

Procyon

/ (ˈprəʊsɪən) /


noun
  1. the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, a binary with a very faint companion. Visual magnitude: 0.34; spectral type: F5IV; distance: 114 light years

Origin of Procyon

1
C17: via Latin from Greek Prokuōn literally: before the Dog, from pro- ² + kuōn dog; so named because it rises just before Sirius, the Dog Star

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for Procyon

Procyon

[ prōsē-ŏn′ ]


  1. A very bright binary star in the constellation Canis Minor, with an apparent magnitude of 0.34. Scientific name: Alpha Canis Minoris.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.