English
constellation
Constellation comes from Middle English constellacioun.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500constellacioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1531constellation
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500constellacioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1531constellation
Earliest quotation: 1531, Thomas Elyot, The Diuision of Ingratitude and the Dispraise therof: “But alas such peruerse constellation nowe reigneth ouer men,…”
The story
From Middle English constellacioun, constillacioun (‘(astrology) position of the moon or a planet in relation to the ascendant sign of the zodiac; horoscope; (astronomy) formation of fixed stars, constellation; (astronomy) elevation or position of the sun’) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French constellation (modern French constellation), or directly from its etymon Late Latin cōnstēllātiōnem, the accusative singular of cōnstēllātiō (‘collection of stars supposed to exert an influence upon human affairs, constellation’), from Latin con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + stēlla (‘star; meteor; planet’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (‘star’)) + -ātiō (suffix forming nouns).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr ‘star’
star, disaster, sterling, asteroid, astral, asterisk, aster, 22 more
through Proto-Italic *stērlā
through Latin stēlla ‘star’
Today it means
noun An arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure (especially one from mythology) or pattern, or a division of the sky including it, especially one officially recognized by astronomers; an asterism.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English constellacioun / constellation