betelgeuse
/ˈbidlˌdʒus/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.05 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A bright-red supergiant intrinsic variable star, the second brightest star in the constellation Orion; Alpha (α) Orionis. It is the tenth brightest star in the nighttime, and one of the largest stars known.
Example Sentences
- "Even if you don’t know it by name, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse is one of the most familiar sights in the heavens above—a gleaming ruddy dot at the shoulder of the constellation Orion. Although already quite difficult to overlook, Betelgeuse has become even more eye-catching across the past few years because of major changes in its appearance—unexpected fluctuations in its brightness that remain poorly understood."
Etymology
Ultimately from an alteration of the Arabic يَد الجَوْزَاء (yad al-jawzāʔ, “hand of the central one (i.e., Orion)”), from يَد (yad, “hand”) + جَوْزَاء (jawzāʔ, “central one”). Jawzā, ‘the central one’, initially referred to Gemini among the Arabs, but the name was later transferred to Orion. During the Middle Ages the first character of the name, yā’ (ي, with two underdots), was misread as a bā’ (ب, with one underdot) when transliterating into Latin, thus *Yedalgeuze became Bedalgeuze. This was then misinterpreted during the Renaissance as deriving from a corruption of an original Arabic form إِبْط الجَوْزَاء (ʔibṭ al-jawzāʔ, “armpit of the central one”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ي د ي, يَد الجَوْزَاء
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbidlˌdʒus/
- British English: /ˈbiːtldʒuːz/