lodestar
UK /ˈləʊd.stɑː(ɹ)/ · US /ˈloʊd.stɑɹ/ noun
Forms lodestars lode starre loadstar
- noun A star used as a navigation reference, particularly a pole star such as Polaris.
- noun (figurative) A guiding tenet or principle.
- noun (law) A calculated amount to award as attorney's fees derived by multiplying the reasonable number of hours spent working on a case by the reasonable hourly billing rate.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English lode (“journey, course”) + star, where lode is an archaic noun from the verb lithe (“to go, journey”), related to lead. Other Middle English spellings include: 14th century loode sterre, lood-sterre, lade-sterne; and 15th century lode sterre. Cognate with Old Norse leiðarstjarna, Dutch leidster, German Leitstern, Danish ledestjerne, Swedish ledstjärna.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A star that leads; a guiding star; esp., the polestar; the cynosure. Chaucer. " Your eyes are lodestars." Shak.
- noun Same as Loadstar.
Etymology [Load, lode + star. See Lode.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lodestar”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details