pole star
/ˈpəʊl stɑː/US/ˈpoʊl ˌstɑɹ/
pole star noun: 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.
Noun
pole star (plural pole stars)
- 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.
- 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?1837 August 31, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar. An Oration Delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, August 31, 1837.”, in Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Emerson’s...
- Synonyms:
- polar star, pole arctic
- A person, principle, or thing which acts as a guide; a guiding light; also, something which attracts much attention; a centre of attention.
- But it [our hotel] has one great advantage for a stranger, by being in the market place, and the next neighbour of the huge church of St. Nicholas: […] A better pole-star could scarcely be desired.1817, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Satyrane’s Letters. Letter II. (To a Lady.)”, in Biographia Literaria; or Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions, volume II, London: Rest Fenner...
- Love was her pole-star. What was Jason's? Only the blankness of despair.1889 June–November, Hall Caine, “Strong Knots of Love”, in The Bondman. A New Saga. […], volume II (The Book of Michael Sunlocks), London: William Heinemann, published January 1890, →OCLC, page 118
- Synonyms:
- cynosure, guide star, guiding star, lodestar
Proper noun capitalized: Pole Star
Pole Star
- Synonym of North Star, the current northern pole star, which has been Polaris for the last 1500 years.
- Synonyms:
- North Star
pole star meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
pole star in Hindi
- star visible to the naked eye which was, is, or will be nearest a celestial pole of a planet
- ध्रुव तारा dhruv tārā
pole star in Tamil
- star visible to the naked eye which was, is, or will be nearest a celestial pole of a planet
- துருவ நட்சத்திரம் turuva naṭcattiram
pole star in Marathi
- star visible to the naked eye which was, is, or will be nearest a celestial pole of a planet
- ध्रुव तारा dhruv tārā
pole star in Bengali
- star visible to the naked eye which was, is, or will be nearest a celestial pole of a planet
- ধ্রুবতারা dhrubtara
More languagesFewer languages
- pole star in Malayalam
- ധ്രുവനക്ഷത്രം dhruvanakṣatraṁ
- pole star in Punjabi
- ਧਰੂ ਤਾਰਾ dharū tārā
- pole star in Malay
- bintang kutub
- pole star in Indonesian
- bintang kutub
- pole star in Thai
- ดาวเหนือ
Synonyms of pole star
Forms of pole star
| plural | pole stars |
|---|---|
| alternative form | polestar |
| alternative form | pole-star |
Origin of pole star
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”).
Capitalized form of pole star.
Questions about pole star
- What does pole star mean?
- Pole star means 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.
- What is pole star in Hindi?
- Pole star in Hindi is ध्रुव तारा (dhruv tārā). See Pole star meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is pole star?
- Pole star can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce pole star?
- Pole star is pronounced /ˈpəʊl stɑː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of pole star?
- The plural of pole star is pole stars.
Words near pole star in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pole star (page history and authors); Pole Star (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pole star.wav.
Cite this entry: “pole star.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pole_star. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.