Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The brightest star in the constellation Lyra, approximately 26 light years from Earth. Vega is one of the stars that make up the Summer Triangle.
  • Lope de,Spanish playwright whose enormous body of works, including Fuente Ovejuna (c. 1619), established the national drama of Spain. Nearly 500 of his more than 2,000 plays are extant.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A tract of ground, low, flat, and moist. This word is confined chiefly to Spain and Cuba; in the latter it often denotes a ‘tobacco-field.’
  • noun A star of the first magnitude in the northern constellation Lyra; adjective Lyræ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Astron.) A brilliant star of the first magnitude, the brightest of those constituting the constellation Lyra.
  • noun Sp. Amer. & Phil. Islands An open tract of ground; a plain, esp. one which is moist and fertile, as those used for tobacco fields.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun astronomy The brightest star in the constellation Lyra; Alpha (α) Lyrae. It forms one corner of the Summer Triangle.
  • proper noun Hispanic surname and placename, usually preceded by la or de la in the singular, or by las or de las in the plural (e.g., Las Vegas).
  • proper noun An automobile that was manufactured by Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Corporation from 1970 to 1977.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun prolific Spanish playwright (1562-1635)
  • noun the brightest star in the constellation Lyra

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin, from Arabic (an-nasr) al-wāqi‘, the falling (eagle), Vega : al-, the + wāqi‘, falling, active participle of waqa‘a, to fall; see wqע in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin, from Arabic واقع (wāqi‘, falling), from the expression النسر الواقع (an-nasr al-wāqi‘, falling eagle). The active participle واقع derives from the verb وقع (wáqa‘a, to fall, drop, tumble, alight, pounce).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Spanish vega "meadow, fertile lowland", from pre-Roman Iberian vaica or baika (meadow), from Iberian ibai (river).

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Examples

  • Born in southern California late in the eighteenth century, Diego de la Vega is a child of two worlds: his father is an aristocratic Spanish landowner; his mother, a Shoshone warrior.

    Zorro by Isabel Allende: Questions 2005

  • Like a flash of lightning out of a clear sky the name Vega suddenly presented itself to his inner vision.

    Archive 2010-08-01 David McDuff 2010

  • Like a flash of lightning out of a clear sky the name Vega suddenly presented itself to his inner vision.

    Chitambo David McDuff 2010

  • After days of this I called Vega in a bit of a panic.

    Susan Harrow: Hide Your Body, Hide Yourself 2009

  • Speaking of fanboys, the History Channel is also running a promotional sweepstakes where the winner will get to meet William Shatner at a Star Trek con in Vega$.

    March 2006 2006

  • Larry Flynt's estranged daughter Tonya Flynt-Vega is demanding that the Justice Department take tougher action against porn sites, particularly those depicting incest or pedophilia.

    Boing Boing: January 16, 2005 - January 22, 2005 Archives 2005

  • Ms. Flynt-Vega is not to be confused with Theresa Flynt-Gaerke, who is credited with having developed the popular chain of Hustler retail stores.

    Boing Boing: January 16, 2005 - January 22, 2005 Archives 2005

  • She told him that the Chinese call the Milky Way the Heavenly River, and that the Spinning Girl referred to in the story is none other than the beautiful big star in Lyra which we call Vega, while the Cow-herd is Altair in Aquila.

    The Chinese Boy and Girl 1901

  • She told him that the Chinese call the Milky Way the Heavenly River, and that the Spinning Girl referred to in the story is none other than the beautiful big star in Lyra which we call Vega, while the Cow-herd is Altair in Aquila.

    The Chinese Boy and Girl Isaac Taylor Headland 1900

  • The word Vega itself is from Wega, which itself is a loose derivative of the word wāqi, which means "falling", via the phrase النسر الواقع an-nasr al-wāqi '

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] JacobB 2010

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