morning star
proper noun, noun
Forms the morning star morning stars morningstar
- proper noun (astronomy) The planet Venus as observed in the eastern sky around dawn. “The evening star is the morning star. (Hesperus is Phosphorus.)”
- proper noun (less commonly) The planet Mercury as observed in the eastern sky around dawn.
- noun (countable, weaponry) A weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff, in contrast to a flail.
- noun (uncountable, Hong Kong, Philippines, uncommon) Sleep or rheum, particularly that which is discharged at the eyes during sleep.
- proper noun (Christianity) Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, especially in Catholic contexts.
- proper noun (Christianity, uncommon) Synonym of Jesus.
- proper noun The title of any of several newspapers.
Synonyms
Phosphor Phosphorus Eosphorus Lucifer evening star Hesperus Apollo Hermes holy-water sprinkle holy water sprinkler morgenstern morning glory Mary mother of Jesus Jesus daystar
Etymology
From morning + star. Compare Middle English morwensterre, West Frisian moarnsstjer, Dutch morgenster, German Morgenstern, Swedish morgonstjärna, Icelandic morgunstjarna. Application to Satan derives, like the corresponding sense of Lucifer (which see), from what is probably a misinterpretation of Isaiah 14:12 (NIV: "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!").
In reference to Mary, mother of Jesus, cf. Star of the Sea.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “morning star”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details