nova

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈnəʊ.və/, US /ˈnoʊ.və/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin nova, the feminine of Latin novus (“new”) (see new), used with stēlla (“star”), a feminine noun, for a new star not known before.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Tycho Brahe's account of the new star in Cassiopeia of 1572 was titled De nova stella.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A new star or nebula not previously recorded: 1877.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The current meaning, a star that suddenly brightens and then slowly fades, is first recorded in 1927.^[2][4] Novae were not told apart from supernovae until the 1930s, and Tycho's star was in fact a supernova.^[3] The classical plural is novae.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1572 – De nova stella (Tycho Brahe).^[3]
• 1877 – a new star.^[2][3]
• 1927 – a star that flares and fades.^[2][4]
• 1930s – nova and supernova told apart.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (astronomy) A star that suddenly becomes much brighter and then fades over weeks or years; it is now understood as a close binary system with a white dwarf.

Word family

• novalike
• supernova
• supernova remnant

Related words

• novel
• new
• novice

Usage notes

Nova, smoked salmon (1964), is short for Nova Scotia salmon.^[4]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press