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The story

The noun is derived from Middle English asterisk [and other forms], from Late Latin asteriscus (‘asterisk; small star’), from Ancient Greek ἀστερῐ́σκος (asterĭ́skos, “asterisk; small star”), from ᾰ̓στήρ (ăstḗr, “celestial body (star, planet, and other lights in the sky such as meteors)”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- (‘to burn; to glow’)) + -ῐ́σκος (-ĭ́skos, diminutive suffix). Noun sense 1.1.2 (‘something which is of little importance or which is marginal’) refers to the use of an asterisk to denote a footnote or marginal note in a text; in other words, information that is not important enough to be incorporated into the main text. Noun sense 1.1.3 (‘blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement’) refers to the use of an asterisk in a sporting record to indicate that the record is qualified in some manner (for example, that the sportsperson was found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs at the time).