Star

See also: star, stár, står, Stär, śtar, and štar

English

Etymology

• As a German and Jewish surname, from Star (“starling”).
• Also as a German and Jewish surname, semantic loan from German Stern (“star”).
• As a Dutch surname, from star (“stiff, rigid”).
• As a Slovene surname, from star (“old”).
• As an English given name, from star, sometimes originating as a nickname.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Proper noun

Star

1. A surname.
2. A female given name from English.
   • 1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Emily Starr Series; All Three Novels: Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs and Emily's Quest, Read Books Ltd, →ISBN:

     Emily Byrd Starr — Starr should be your first name. You look like a star—you have a radiant sort of personality shining through you— ... I think I shall call you Star.

   • 2019 February 7, Elly Griffiths, The Stone Circle: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 11, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     Stella was always an original. I don't think she went on to university but I'm sure she's doing something interesting with her life. She calls herself Star now.

3. A hamlet in Lamont County, Alberta, Canada.
4. A hamlet in Shipham civil parish, Somerset, England.
5. A work settlement in the Dyatkovsky District, Bryansk Oblast, Russia.
6. A village in the Maryovsky District, Novgorod Oblast, Russia.
7. A small village in Fife council area, Scotland, also known as Star of Markinch.
8. A city in Idaho.
9. An unincorporated community in Munising Township, Alger County, Michigan.
10. An unincorporated community in Rankin County, Mississippi.
11. An unincorporated community in Holt County, Nebraska.
12. A small town in Montgomery County, North Carolina.
13. An unincorporated community in Mills County, Texas.
14. A hamlet in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
15. A small settlement near the village of Gaerwen, Isle of Anglesey, Wales.
16. (UK, rail transport) Star class, a class of steam locomotives used on the GWR.

Anagrams

• tars, sart, ARTS, arts., 'rats, tsar, tars-, ARTs, rats, Sart, srat, Srta., RATs, RAST, Arts, stra., Srta, arts, astr-, TSRA, RTAs, TRAs

German

Etymology 1

From Middle High German star, stare, from Old High German stara, staro, star, from Proto-West Germanic *star.

Cognate with Middle Dutch sterre, Middle Low German stār(e), Old English stær, Old Norse stari, and further with Latin sturnus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃtaːr/, [ʃtaː(ɐ̯)], [ʃtaːʁ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: starr (some speakers)

Noun

Star m (strong or weak, genitive Stars or Stares or (archaic) Staren, plural Stare or (archaic) Staren)

1. starling

Usage notes

• Weak singular declension is now rare and archaic. The plural Staren remains slightly more common, but much less common than Stare.

Declension

Declension of Star [masculine, strong // weak]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Star	die	Stare, Staren1
genitive	eines	des	Stars, Stares, Staren1	der	Stare, Staren1
dative	einem	dem	Star, Stare2, Staren1	den	Staren
accusative	einen	den	Star, Staren1	die	Stare, Staren1

¹Archaic.
²Now rare, see notes.

Alternative forms

• Staar (superseded)

Related terms

• Starenkasten
• Starenjunges

Etymology 2

16th-century backformation from now archaic starblind, staarblind, from Middle High German star(e)blint, from Old High German starablint (“blind or highly vision-impaired but having normal-looking eyes”). The meaning is interpreted as "blind with cloudy eyes." The first element is from *starēn (“to stare, gaze, be fixed upon”) and second element is from *blind (“blind”).

Compare Middle Dutch staerblint, Old English stæreblind. Related with starren, English stare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃtaːr/, [ʃtaː(ɐ̯)], [ʃtaːʁ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: starr (some speakers)

Noun

Star m (strong, genitive Stars or Stares, plural Stare)

2. (pathology) cataract (an eye disease, leucoma)

Declension

Declension of Star [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Star	die	Stare
genitive	eines	des	Stars, Stares	der	Stare
dative	einem	dem	Star, Stare1	den	Staren
accusative	einen	den	Star	die	Stare

¹Now rare, see notes.

Alternative forms

• Staar, Stahr (superseded)

Hyponyms

• grauer Star
• grüner Star

Derived terms

• jemandem den Star stechen

Descendants

• → Danish: stær (“cataract”)

Etymology 3

19th century, from English star. Doublet of Aster and Stern.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /staːr/, [staː(ɐ̯)], [staːʁ]
• IPA^(key): /ʃtaːr/ (less common)

Noun

Star m (strong, genitive Stars, plural Stars)

1. celebrity, star

   Synonyms: Prominenter, Berühmter, Berühmtheit, Sternchen

Declension

Declension of Star [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Star	die	Stars
genitive	eines	des	Stars	der	Stars
dative	einem	dem	Star	den	Stars
accusative	einen	den	Star	die	Stars

Hyponyms

• Filmstar
• Musikstar
• Popstar
• Pornostar
• Superstar

Further reading

• “Star” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Star” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Star” in Duden online
• “Star” in Duden online