pole star
nounUK /ˈpəʊl stɑː/ · US /ˈpoʊl ˌstɑɹ/
Etymology 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”).
1
Astronomy, Natural sciences 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 Complete Works; I), Riverside edition, London: The Waverley Book Company, published 1883, →OCLC, page 84:
2
Figuratively 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, […], →OCLC, pages 214–215:
- 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:
- Related terms
- lodestar, north star, North Star