# asterisk

Pronunciation: say "AS-tuh-risk" US /ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/, UK /ˈæstəɹɪsk/

## Noun

1. The star-shaped symbol *, used in printing and writing for various purposes, such as directing readers to a footnote or marking where letters or words have been left out.
   - Simple: The star-shaped mark * used in writing, often to point readers to a note at the bottom of a page.
   - _An asterisk follows the athlete's name, sending readers to a footnote about the disputed record._
   - _The contract used an asterisk to flag a clause buried at the bottom of the page._
3. A qualification or blemish that detracts from an otherwise outstanding achievement, marking it as less than wholly legitimate. *(US)*
   - Simple: A small flaw that takes some of the shine off a great success.
   - _Commentators argued the suspension left an asterisk beside an otherwise flawless season._
   - _To purists, the steroid era hangs an asterisk over every home-run record from those years._
4. Something regarded as of little importance or merely marginal; a footnote to larger events.
   - Simple: Something small or unimportant, a minor side note that few people notice.
   - _Historians treat the brief rebellion as little more than an asterisk in the nation's long story._
   - _Her cameo role remained an asterisk on a career otherwise built around leading parts._
5. An object or mark that resembles or is shaped like the asterisk symbol, with arms radiating from a central point.
   - Simple: Something shaped like the star symbol *, with arms spreading out from a center.
   - _The surgeon noted a scar in the shape of an asterisk where the wounds had healed together._
   - _Five roads met at the square, forming a rough asterisk on the city map._
6. A star-shaped instrument with radiating arms, placed over the diskos (or paten) during the Eucharist to keep the covering veil from touching the host.
   - Simple: A metal frame with star-shaped arms, set over the holy bread in a church service to keep the cloth from touching it.
   - _Before the procession, the deacon set the asterisk over the diskos to support the veil._
   - _The church's silver asterisk had been crafted to arch neatly above the host._

## Verb

2. To mark or replace text with an asterisk symbol; to star.
   - Simple: To put a star-shaped * mark on a word or name, often to point to a note.
   - _The style guide tells writers to asterisk any term defined elsewhere in the glossary._
   - _Reviewers asterisked the records that contained errors before sending them back._

## Noun

7. A little star, and by extension any figure or object with a star-like shape. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A small star, or something shaped like one.
   - _The night sky in the painting was dotted with a hundred painted asterisks._
   - _On the banner, a single golden asterisk shone above the crest._

## Origin

The noun comes through Middle English asterisk from Late Latin asteriscus ("asterisk; small star"), which came from Ancient Greek asterískos ("small star"), formed from astḗr ("star or other light in the sky") plus a diminutive suffix meaning "little." The verb is derived from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/asterisk (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).