subconstellation
nounEtymology From sub- + constellation.
1
Astronomy, Natural sciences A subordinate or smaller constellation.
- the Pleiades, or subconstellation upon the back of Taurus1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:
- the three stars of the belt and three in the sword, but an additional subconstellation, imagined as the various army generals for a warrior chief.2013, Lawrence Winkler, The Final Cartwheel, page 118: