English
constellation
Etymology

From Middle English constellacioun, constillacioun [and other forms], borrowed from Old French constellation (modern French constellation), or directly from its etymon Late Latin cōnstēllātiōnem, the accusative singular of cōnstēllātiō, from Latin con- + stēlla (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr) + -ātiō.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) enPR: kŏnstəlā'shn', IPA: /ˌkɒn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən/, [ˌkɒn.stəˈleɪ.ʃn̩]
  • (America) enPR: kän'stəlā'shən, IPA: /ˌkɑn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən/, [ˌkɑn.stəˈleɪ.ʃn̩]
Noun

constellation (plural constellations)

  1. (astronomy) 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.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Isaiah 13:9–10 ↗, column 2:
      Behold, the day of the Lord commeth, cruell both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land deſolate; and he ſhall deſtroy the ſinners thereof out of it. For the ſtarres of heauen, and the conſtellations thereof ſhall not giue their light: the ſunne ſhalbe darkened in his going forth, and the moone ſhall not cauſe her light to ſhine.
    • a. 1631 (date written), J[ohn] Donne, “An Epithalamion, or Mariage Song on the Lady Elizabeth, and Count Palatine being Married on St. Valentines Day”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633, →OCLC ↗, stanza III, page 119 ↗:
      Up, up, faire Bride, and call, / Thy ſtarres, from out their ſeverall boxes, take / Thy Rubies, Pearles, and Diamonds forth, and make / Thy ſelfe a conſtellation, of them All.
      A figurative use.
    • 1837 August 31, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar. An Oration Delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, August 31, 1837.”, in J[ames] E[lliot] Cabot, editor, Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Emerson’s Complete Works; I), Riverside edition, London: The Waverley Book Company, published 1883, →OCLC ↗, page 84 ↗:
      Who can doubt that poetry will revive and lead in a new age, as the star in the constellation Harp, which now flames in our zenith, astronomers announce, shall one day be the pole-star for a thousand years?
    1. (modern astronomy) Any of the 88 regions of the sky officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union, including all stars and celestial bodies in the region. [from 1920s]
  2. (figurative) A configuration or grouping of related things.
    1. A wide, seemingly unlimited, assortment.
      a constellation of possibilities
      • 1665, Robert Boyle, “Occasional Reflections. Reflection VIII. Upon a Child that Cri’d for the Stars.”, in [John Weyland], editor, Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects. With a Discourse about Such Kind of Thoughts, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Alex[ander] Ambrose Masson; and sold by John Henry Parker, […], published 1848, →OCLC ↗, section V, page 326 ↗:
        These amorous Persons may be, I grant, very much delighted when they first gaze upon a Constellation of fair Ladies, but the Heart commonly pays dear for the Pleasure of the Eye, […]
    2. (figurative) An array of marks or items.
      ''He had a constellation of bruises on his side.
      ''A constellation of blood had sprayed onto the wall.
    3. (psychoanalysis) Synonym of complex
    4. (sexuality) A network of connections between people who are in polyamorous relationships, for example between a person, their partner, and that person's partner.
    5. (space science) A fleet of satellites used for the same purpose.
      The Iridium satellite constellation provides data and voice information coverage to satellite phones and other communication devices over the entire surface of Earth.
  3. (astrology, obsolete)
    1. The configuration of planets at a given time (especially a person's birth), as believed to affect events on Earth, or used for determining a horoscope.
      • 1531, Thomas Elyot, “The Diuision of Ingratitude and the Dispraise therof”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman's Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], →OCLC ↗, 2nd book, pages 188–189 ↗:
        But alas such peruerse constellation nowe reigneth ouer men, that where some be aptely and naturally disposed to amitie, and fyndeth one, in similitude of studie and maners, equall to his expectation, and therfore kendeleth a feruent loue towarde that persone, puttinge all his ioye and delite in the praise and auauncement of him that he loueth, it hapneth that he which is loued, beinge promoted in honour, either of purpose neglecteth his frende, therby suppressynge libertie of speche or familiar resorte; or els esteming his mynde with his fortune onely, and nat with the suertie of frendship, hideth from him the secretes of his harte, and either trusteth no man, or els him whome prosperous fortune hath late brought in acquaintaunce.
      • 1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “First Impressions”, in Romola. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC ↗, book I, page 72 ↗:
        [H]e was born under the constellation that gives a man skill, riches, and integrity, whatever that constellation may be, which is of the less consequence because babies can't choose their own horoscopes, and, indeed, if they could, there might be an inconvenient rush of babies at particular epochs.
    2. A person's character or inclinations, supposedly determined by their horoscope.
      • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iv], page 257 ↗, column 2:
        I knovv thy conſtellation is right apt / For this affayre: […]
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