Procyon
(ˈprəʊsɪɒn)
[a. L. Procyōn, a. Gr. Προκύων (in sense 1), f. πρό before + κύων dog: so called as rising a little before the dog-star Sirius.]
1. The principal star in the constellation of Canis Minor; also formerly the constellation itself.
| 1658 Phillips, Procyon, the lesser Dog-Star. 1842 [see dog-star 1]. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 324 Betelgeuse, Sirius, and Procyon form a triangle. |
2. Zool. A genus of plantigrade carnivorous mammals, inhabiting N. and S. America, including the racoons, typical of the family Procyonidæ.
| 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVI. 57/1 Procyon. 1849 Craig, Procyon, the Racoon, a genus of quadrupeds, placed by naturalists immediately after the Bears. |
Hence procyˈoniform a., resembling the racoons in form, racoon-like (Cent. Dict. 1890); ˈprocyonoid a. = procyoniform; also as n.