Etymograph

English

star

Star comes from Old English steorra ‘star’, from Proto-Germanic *sternǭ ‘star’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr ‘star’, and perhaps ultimately from *h₂eHs- ‘to burn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eHs-1‘to be dry, to burn’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗr1‘star’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sternǭ1‘star’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sternō1reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sterrō1reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150steorra1‘star’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterre1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591star1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English star
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “But O malignant and ill-boading Starres,[…]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eHs-Wiktionary, English star‘to be dry, to burn’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗrWiktionary, English star‘star’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sternǭWiktionary, English star‘star’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sternōWiktionary, English starreconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sterrōWiktionary, English starreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150steorraWiktionary, English star‘star’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterreWiktionary, English star
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591starWiktionary, English star. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “But O malignant and ill-boading Starres,[…]”

Linked words

pairs

  • star and disaster both from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr ‘star’

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- ‘to be dry, to dry’

are, ash, stellar, arent, arson, azalea, ardent, arid, ashy, ashen, areal, ardor, 6 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr

stella, asteroid, astral, asterisk, aster, 25 more

through Old English steorra

sterling

Today it means

noun Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “star”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- / star

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