morning star
See also: morningstar and Morning Star
English
Alternative forms
- morningstar
Etymology
From morning + star. Compare West Frisian moarnstjer, Dutch morgenster, German Morgenstern, Swedish morgonstjärna, Icelandic morgunstjarna. Application to Satan derives, like the corresponding sense of Lucifer (which see), from what is probably a misinterpretation of Isaiah 14:12 (NIV: "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!").
Noun
morning star (plural morning stars)
- (astronomy, with definite article) The planet Venus as observed in the eastern sky around dawn.
- Synonyms: Phosphorus, Eosphorus
- Antonyms: evening star, Hesperus
- The evening star is the morning star. (Hesperus is Phosphorus.)
- 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part III”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 2024748, page 47:
- Morn in the white wake of the morning star / Came furrowing all the orient into gold.
- 1979, Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher, “The Rainbow Connection”, The Muppet Movie, Henson Associates and ITC Entertainment
- Who said that every wish would be heard and answered / When wished on the morning star? / Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it / And look what it's done so far.
- (less commonly) The planet Mercury as observed in the eastern sky around dawn.
- Synonym: Apollo
- Antonyms: evening star, Hermes
- (military) A weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff, in contrast to a flail.
- Synonyms: holy water sprinkler, morgenstern
- 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 55:
- Contrivances like these, except that the balls were armed with spikes, were long carried by the pioneers of the trained bands, or city militia, they are generally called morning stars.
Translations
planet Venus as seen around dawn
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spiked weapon on staff
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- (spiked weapon on staff): mace, truncheon
Further reading
morning star on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
morning star (weapon) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Phosphorus (morning star) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia