Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Sirius or Canicula, a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Canis Major, the heliacal rising of which (see heliacal) occurring in the hottest part of the year gave name to the dog-days (which see). See also Canicula, and cut under Canis.

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

  • Sirius, a star of the constellation Canis Major, or the Greater Dog, and the brightest star in the heavens; -- called also Canicula, and, in astronomical charts, α Canis Majoris. See dog days.

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

  • proper noun astronomy A bluish-white star in the constellation Canis Major; Alpha (α) Canis Majoris. A vertex of the Winter Triangle and the brightest star in the night sky. It is actually a binary star with a white dwarf companion star.

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

  • noun the brightest star in the sky; in Canis Major

Etymologies

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

[The brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the fact that the star lies in the constellation of Canis Major (the "larger dog")

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