Word of the Day Archive
Sunday August 19, 2012

lodestar \LOHD-stahr\ , noun:
1. Something that serves as a guide or on which the attention is fixed.
2. A star that shows the way.
3. Polaris.

Hilola Bigtree was the lodestar that pulled our visored, sweaty visitors across the water.
-- Karen Russell, Swamplandia

It boasts a transportation system second to none amongst the great cities of the world, and it is, most significantly, the lodestar of Japanese culture in modern times.
-- Lawrence William Rogers, Tokyo Stories

Lodestar comes from the Old English word lode which meant "way, course." The word has been used in navigation since the 1400s.

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for lodestar

 

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