Rigel
/ˈɹaɪd͡ʒəl/ proper noun
Forms Rigels Regel
- proper noun (astronomy) A blue supergiant star in the constellation Orion; Beta (β) Orionis. The seventh brightest star in the night sky.
- proper noun A surname from German.
Synonyms
Etymology
A corruption of Arabic رِجْل (rijl, “foot, leg”), in the Arabic name رِجْل الْجَبَّار (rijl al-jabbār, literally “foot of the great one (i.e., Orion)”).
Probably an Americanized spelling of German Reigel or Riegel.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A fixed star of the first magnitude in the left foot of the constellation Orion. [Written also Regel.]
Etymology [Ar. rijl, properly, foot.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Rigel”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details