Siriusn.
/ˈsɪrɪəs/, U.S. /ˈsɪriəs/ Astronomy.in extended use.1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles xxxiv, in Graphic 10 Oct. 422/3 Each diamond turned into an Aldebaran or a Sirius—a constellation of white, red, and green flashes, that interchanged their hues with her every pulsation.
A fixed star of the first magnitude, the chief of the constellation Canis Major or Great Dog, and the brightest in the heavens; the dog-star.
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the world > the universe > star > kind of star > small star > [noun] > dwarf > Sirius
Siriusc1374
canicularc1420
Dog Star1558
Orion's hound1590
Orion's dog1676
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) i. met. v. 22 Þe sedes þat..arcturus saw ben waxen heye cornes whan þe sterre sirius eschaufeþ hym.
1555 R. Eden Briefe Descr. Moscouia in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 262v Serius is otherwyse cauled Canicula, this is the dogge, of whom the canicular dayes haue theyr name.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 49 Thee fields cleene fruictlesse thee dogstar Sirius heated.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis x, in tr. Virgil Wks. 509 So Sirius, flashing forth sinister Lights, Pale humane kind with..Famine frights.
1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. iii. §61. 512 An image of the Sun, as bright as Sirius to an Eye given by position.
1727 W. Broome Poems 38 When sultry Sirius..Flames in the Air, and cleaves the glowing Plains.
1756 W. Mason Ode to Memory ii, in Poems (1774) 20 If Sirius flame with fainting heat.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 107 As the fiery Sirius alters hue, And bickers into red and emerald.
1883 R. Jefferies Story Heart i I prayed..now with the Pleiades, now with the Swan or burning Sirius.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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