supernova

Etymology

It is formed from English super- + nova.^[2][3][4][5] Merriam-Webster calls it a New Latin formation from the same parts,^[6] and Chambers derives the prefix from super- (“above”).^[7] Nova is the feminine of Latin novus (“new”), used with stella (“star”) for a new star not known before.^[3][2] The OED notes that the word was popularized by Fritz Zwicky, who used it in a paper given in November 1933, perhaps independently of Knut Lundmark's use of it in December 1932.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A catastrophic explosion of a star, which makes it for a time enormously brighter: 1932, in a circular of the Lund Observatory by Knut Lundmark.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1926,^[6] Dictionary.com to 1925–30,^[5] and Etymonline to 1934, as a temporary star much brighter than a nova.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that supernovae were not told apart from ordinary novae until the 1930s; the famous new star that Tycho Brahe observed in Cassiopeia in 1572 was in fact a supernova.^[3] The phrase to go supernova, of a star exploding in this way, began in science fiction in 1942, and was soon used figuratively too.^[2] From 1962 the word was used for anything brilliant or explosive like a supernova,^[2] and Merriam-Webster records it for a person who bursts into prominence or popularity, a superstar.^[6]

Timeline

• 1932 – a catastrophic explosion of a star.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the sense to 1926,^[6] and Etymonline to 1934.^[3]
• 1933 – used by Fritz Zwicky, who made the word popular.^[2]
• 1942 – to go supernova, in science fiction.^[2]
• 1962 – figurative: something brilliant or explosive.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The explosion of a star, which for a time becomes millions or billions of times brighter than before, scattering much of its material into space.^[6][8][2][4]
2. go supernova: of a star, to explode in this way; figuratively, to burst out suddenly.^[2]
3. Someone or something that bursts suddenly into fame or popularity; a superstar.^[6][2]

Word family

• supernova remnant

Related words

• nova
• super-
• new
• novel

Usage notes

The plural is supernovae or supernovas.^[8][6][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins