| Learning / English Dictionary |
ASTERISM
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(astronomy) a cluster of stars (or a small constellation)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("asterism" is a kind of...):
natural object (an object occurring naturally; not made by man)
Domain category:
astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)
Instance hyponyms:
Big Dipper; Charles's Wain; Dipper; Plough; Wagon; Wain (a group of seven bright stars in the constellation Ursa Major)
Dipper; Little Dipper (a cluster of seven stars in Ursa Minor; at the end of the dipper's handle is Polaris)
Holonyms ("asterism" is a member of...):
constellation (a configuration of stars as seen from the earth)
Derivation:
asterismal (relating to asterisms or constellations)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(mineralogy) a star-shaped figure with six rays that is seen in some crystal structures under reflected or transmitted light
Classified under:
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes
Hypernyms ("asterism" is a kind of...):
star (a plane figure with 5 or more points; often used as an emblem)
Domain category:
mineralogy (the branch of geology that studies minerals: their structure and properties and the ways of distinguishing them)
