lodestar
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lodestar
- /ˈləʊd.stɑː(ɹ)/ UK
- /ˈloʊd.stɑɹ/ US
- /ˈləʉd.staː(ɹ)/ Australia
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English lode (“journey, course”) + star, where lode is an archaic noun from the verb lithe (“to go, journey”), related to lead. Other Middle English spellings include: 14th century loode sterre, lood-sterre, lade-sterne; and 15th century lode sterre. Cognate with Old Norse leiðarstjarna, Dutch leidster, German Leitstern, Danish ledestjerne, Swedish ledstjärna.
noun lodestars · lode starre · loadstar
- A star used as a navigation reference, particularly a pole star such as Polaris. Tho when her ways he could no more descry, But to and fro at disaventure strayd; Like as a ship, whose lodestarre, suddenly Covered with cloudes, her pilot hath dismayd
- A guiding tenet or principle. Selfe loue, to him ſelf tender, to the reſt tough, / Is, of iuſt iuſtice, neither roote, braunce, nor bough. / Loue (namely ſelfe loue) corruptibly growyng, / Is cheefe lodeſter of lets, in iuſtice ſhowing.
- A calculated amount to award as attorney's fees derived by multiplying the reasonable number of hours spent working on a case by the reasonable hourly billing rate. Many, though not all, of the objections to lodestars seem to us to be overstated.
Similar: cynosure, guiding star
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: cynosure, guiding star
Translations
Every language
noun star used as navigation reference
| 日本語 | 北極星 Hokkyokusei, ポラリス Porarisu |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 指示方向之星 zhǐshì fāngxiàng zhī xīng, 北極星 /北极星 Běijíxīng, 北辰 Běichén |
| Français | étoile polaire |
| Deutsch | Leitstern |
| Русский | путево́дная звезда́ putevódnaja zvezdá |
| Tiếng Việt | sao bắc cực, 𣋀北極 |
noun guiding tenet
| 日本語 | 指導原理 shidō kenri |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 指導原理 /指导原理 zhǐdǎo yuánlǐ |
| Português | estrela guia |
| Deutsch | Leitstern |
| Română | stea călăuzitoare |
| Русский | путево́дная звезда́ putevódnaja zvezdá |
Talk about this word "lodestar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lodestar. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lodestar. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lodestar "lodestar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lodestar.Cite this
@misc{lodestar_2026,
title = {lodestar},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lodestar},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
