sea-star
† 1. A star which guides mariners at sea. Obs.
Chiefly repr. med.L. stella maris, a title given to the Virgin Mary, from the erroneous belief that it expressed the etymological meaning of the Heb. name Miriam, Mary.
| c 1050 Pseudo-Matth. (Assmann) 8 Nu is hyre nama ᵹereht..sæsteorra. c 1200 Ormin 2132 Forr hire name tacneþþ uss Sæsteorrne onn Ennglissh spæche, & ȝho beoþ æfre, & wass, & iss Sæsteorrne inn haliȝ bisne. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 141, 161. 1808 Vesper Bk. 112/2 Sea-star by which we sail, And gate of heav'nly rest! 1817 Moore Lalla Rookh, Fire-Worshippers (near end), With nought but the sea-star to light up her tomb. |
2. A starfish. [Gr. ἀστήρ, L. stella (marina).]
| 1569 Fenton Secret Wond. Nature 50 b, A kind of fishe called Stella, or Sea starre, bycause it hath the figure of a painted starre. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. C 2, The fishes called Sea-starres, that burne one another by excessiue heate. 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus v. 72 Why amongst Sea-starres nature chiefly delighteth in five points? 1772–84 Cook's Voy. (1790) I. 323 Sea-suns and sea-stars, are small round shell-fish, and receive their denominations from the great variety of prickles, which shoot from them like rays of light. 1856 R. Knox tr. Edwards' Man. Zool. §382 The sea stars, the holothuria.., and the sea-urchins, are types of this class [Echinodermata]. 1891 F. Thompson Sister-Songs (1895) 16 And her feet Were most sweet, Tinged like sea-stars, rosied brown. |