nova
Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
Noun astronomy, natural sciences
- Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
- In these stellar pairings, if the two stars are close together, the white dwarf will siphon mass away from its companion and have an outburst called a nova. And when the white dwarf accumulates too much mass, it will...
- Ellipsis of classical nova
Origin
Feminine nominative singular of Latin novus (“new”). The feminine is used since stella (“star”) is feminine; thus nova is a shortening of nova stella (“new star”), first used in this sense in 1573 by Tycho Brahe.
Forms
Related
novel novum planetary nebula plerion preplanetary nebula protoplanetary nebula
Derived
classical nova dwarf nova failed supernova hypernova kilonova macronova micronova novalike nova-like nova remnant quark nova recurrent nova red nova stellar nova supernova supernova imposter supernova remnant unnova
Noun form of, plural
- plural of novum
Origin
Blend of novum + Latin -a. From the Latin -a suffix used as the plural suffix form for singular words ending with -um (an inflection of -us).