# star

> English word · Noun · IPA /stɑː(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #666

## Definitions
1. Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.
2. Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.
3. A very massive ball of plasma with strong enough gravity to have ongoing fusion of hydrogen or heavier elements in its core. In strict technical usage, the Sun is included.
4. senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
5. senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
6. senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
7. senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
8. senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks
9. senses relating to fame
10. senses relating to fame
11. senses relating to fame
12. A friend, a mate, a pal.
13. A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding in the air, presents a starlike appearance.

## Etymology
From Middle English sterre, from Old English steorra (“star”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterrō, variant of *sternō, from Proto-Germanic *sternô, *sternǭ (“star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”). Doublet of aster; related to estoile, étoile, stella, and stelo.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots starn, ster (“star”), Yola starr, steor (“star”), Saterland Frisian Stiern (“star”), West Frisian stjer (“star”), Cimbrian stèrn (“star”), Dutch ster (“star”), German Stern (“star”), Luxembourgish Stär (“star”), Mòcheno stern (“star”), Vilamovian śtaom (“star”), Yiddish שטערן (shtern, “star”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål stjerne (“star”), Faroese stjørna (“star”), Gutnish stjännå (“star”), Icelandic stjarna (“star”), Norwegian Nynorsk skjødna, stjerne (“star”), Swedish stjärna (“star”), Crimean Gothic stein (“star”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō, “star”), French étoile (“star”), Istriot stila (“star”), Istro-Romanian ste (“star”), Italian stella (“star”), Megleno-Romanian steau̯ă (“star”), Mirandese streilha (“star”), Occitan estela (“star”), Portuguese estrela (“star”), Romansh staila (“star”), Romanian stea (“star”), Sardinian isteddu (“star”), Sicilian stidda (“star”), Spanish estrella (“star”), Venetan stéła (“star”), Walloon sitoele (“star”), Latin stēlla (“star”), Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr, “star”), Greek αστέρι (astéri, “star”), Old Armenian աստղ (astł, “star”), Persian ستاره (setâre, “star”), Tajik ситора (sitora, “star”), Pashto ستوری (storay, “star”), Mazanderani اساره (ëssâre, “star”), Northern Kurdish stêr (“star”), Central Kurdish ئەستێرە (estêre, “star”), Zazaki astare (“star”), Ossetian стъалы (st’aly, “star”), Hindi तारा (tārā, “star”), Urdu تارا (tārā, “star”), Punjabi ਤਾਰਾ (tārā, “star”), Gujarati તારો (tāro, “star”), Sanskrit तारा (tārā, “star”).

## Easily confused with
- **STD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-std)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-str)
- **STS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-sts)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stu)
- **STI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-sti)
- **STM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stm)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stp)
- **sth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-sth)
- **stop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stop)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stay)
- **stem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stem)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stir)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stat)
- **swap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-swap)
- **swan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-swan)
- **stud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stud)
- **sway** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-sway)
- **stew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stew)
- **SWAT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-swat)
- **stun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stun)

## Common misspellings (4)
`satr`, `sstar`, `stra`, `sttar`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/star