asterisk

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English asterisc, earlier asterich,^[2][3] borrowed from Late Latin asteriscus,^[4][2][3][5] from Ancient Greek ἀστερίσκος (asterískos, “little star”), a diminutive of ἀστήρ (astḗr, “star”),^[6][2][7][8] from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“star”).^[3][4] Cresswell traces the Greek word to the same ancient root as Latin stella and stellar.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The star-shaped mark used in a text: before 1382, as asterich in the Prologue to the Wycliffite Bible, and before 1387 as asterisc in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[2] The Wycliffite passage explains that where an asterisk stands, the Hebrew has something the Latin books lack.^[10] The OED, in an entry not yet revised, has no record before 1612,^[6] and Hoad likewise dates the word to the 17th century.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In English the word has always been used chiefly of the printed or written mark (*), placed by a word to refer the reader to a note, to show an omission or to mark a doubtful passage.^[6][3] The Latin form asteriscus was used in English too.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as a mark in the form of a little star, and quoted the marking with asterisks of the parts of the Septuagint missing from the Hebrew.^[12] The literal sense, a little star, is recorded from before 1682, in Sir Thomas Browne.^[6] From 1708 it was used of anything shaped like a star, including the star-shaped frame of gold or silver that the Orthodox Church places over the chalice and paten.^[6] The verb, to mark with an asterisk, dates from about 1733.^[6][3][8] In linguistics the sign marks an unattested reconstructed form, or a sentence that is not grammatical.^[13][8] Since asterisks stand for the letters of words left out, asterisks became a euphemism for swear words in Australian slang (1903).^[14]

Timeline

• before 1382 – asterich, the mark (*).^[2]
• before 1387 – asterisc.^[2]
• before 1682 – a little star.^[6]
• 1708 – anything shaped like a star; the star of the Orthodox liturgy.^[6]
• c. 1733 – verb, to mark with an asterisk.^[8][6][3]
• 1903 – in Australian slang, a euphemism for an obscenity.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The star-shaped character *, used in writing and printing to refer to a footnote, to show an omission or to mark a word or passage.^[13][8][6]
2. In historical linguistics, this sign placed before a form that is not attested but reconstructed; in descriptive linguistics, before an ungrammatical expression.^[13][8]
3. Something shaped like a star; in the Orthodox Church, a star-shaped frame placed over the chalice and paten.^[6]

Verb

1. To mark with an asterisk: The editor asterisked every doubtful date.^[8][6]

Related words

• aster
• asterism
• asteroid
• star
• stellar
• disaster

Usage notes

The usual pronunciation ends in -risk, but a form with the last two consonants reversed, -riks, is also heard;^[15][6] Merriam-Webster marks a form ending in -rik, used especially in the plural, as disapproved by many.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House