CONSTELLATION • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Constellation

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/kˌɑnstəlˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Constellation n.

A cluster or group of fixed stars, or division of the heavens, designated in most cases by the name of some animal, or of some mythologial personage, within whose imaginary outline, as traced upon the heavens, the group is included. "The constellations seem to have been almost purposely named and delineated to cause as much confusion and inconvenience as possible." Note: In each of the constellations now recognized by astronomers (about 90 in number) the brightest stars, both named and unnamed, are designated nearly in the order of brilliancy by the letters of the Greek alphabet; as, alpha Tauri (Aldebaran) is the first star of Taurus, gamma Orionis (Bellatrix) is the third star of Orion.

An assemblage of splendors or excellences. "The constellations of genius had already begun to show itself... which was to shed a glory over the meridian and close of Philip's reign."

Fortune; fate; destiny. (Obs.) "It is constellation, which causeth all that a man doeth."

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Etymology of 'Constellation'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Constellation" Quotes from Famous Books

... the automatic controls take over while he examined the charts once more. They showed the constellation which lay directly ahead, the one after that, and then nothing for hundreds of millions of miles. Those first two reflected a tiny amount of light from Ventura B and were visible through telescopes, therefore it would have created suspicion to falsify their position. Past ...

— Daughters of Doom • Herbert B. Livingston

... dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood, so that their least wound became fatal. Eurystheus said that it had not been a fair victory, since Hercules had been helped, and Juno put the crab into the skies as the constellation Cancer; while a labour to patience was next devised for Hercules—namely, the chasing of the Arcadian stag, which was sacred to Diana, and had golden horns and brazen hoofs. Hercules hunted it up hill and down dale for a whole year, and when at last he caught ...

— Aunt Charlotte's Stories of Greek History • Charlotte M. Yonge

... nor handsome. As to the ladies of the Court, rank and title may compensate for want of personal charms; but they are, in general, very plain, ill-shaped, and ugly; but don't you tell anybody that I say so. If one wants to see beauty, one must go to Ranelagh; there it is collected, in one bright constellation. There were two ladies very elegant, at Court,—Lady Salisbury and Lady Talbot; but the observation did not in general hold good that fine feathers make fine birds. I saw many who were vastly richer dressed than your friends, but I ...

— Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 1 • Charles Dudley Warner

... Up above, to her right, against an indigo sky, the Great Bear was standing almost on its head, with its tail in the air. One of the tests of a Torch-bearer was a knowledge of the stars, and Ulyth had learnt how to tell the time by the position of this particular constellation. She made a rapid calculation now, reckoning from the day of the month, and was glad to find it came out correctly. Cassiopeia's white arms were hidden by the mountains, but the Milky Way shimmered in the east, and overhead Arcturus blazed ...

— For the Sake of the School • Angela Brazil

... is the constellation testudo, or the lyre, which was at first a tortoise, on account of its slow motion round the Pole; then a lyre, because it is the shell of this reptile on which the strings of the lyre are mounted. See an excellent memoir of M. Dupuis sur ...

— The Ruins • C. F. [Constantin Francois de] Volney

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