pole star
/ˈpəʊl stɑː/
"pole-star" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pole star” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The star visible to the naked eye which was in the past, is now, or will be in the future nearest a celestial pole of a planet.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pole-star · pole star · English
pole star · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pole star |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpəʊl stɑː/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pole star” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pole star is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpəʊl stɑː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
pole star doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pole (“either of the two points on the Earth’s surface around which it rotates; similar points on any other rotating object”) + star, possibly a calque of Latin stēllam polārem (“the Pole Star”). The correct English form is pole star, spelled P-O-L-E- -S-T-A-R.
Definition
- 1The star visible to the naked eye which was in the past, is now, or will be in the future nearest a celestial pole of a planet.
- 2A person, principle, or thing which acts as a guide; a guiding light; also, something which attracts much attention; a centre of attention.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pole star appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Polaris is currently the pole star of planet Earth.
Who can doubt that poetry will revive and lead in a new age, as the star in the constellation Harp, which now flames in our zenith, astronomers announce, shall one day be the pole-star for a thousand years?
Etymology
From pole (“either of the two points on the Earth’s surface around which it rotates; similar points on any other rotating object”) + star, possibly a calque of Latin stēllam polārem (“the Pole Star”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.