aster (English)

Where does "aster" come from?

The English noun 'aster' travels back through Latin 'astēr'[1] and Ancient Greek 'ἀστήρ'[1], which descends from Proto-Hellenic '*astḗr'[3] and ultimately Proto-Indo-European '*h₂stḗr'[3]. This ancient root is apparently derived from '*h₂e(h₁)s-' meaning 'to burn, glow' combined with an agentive suffix, resulting in a literal meaning of 'glower, shiner'[5].

Open questions

The Proto-Indo-European root is reconstructed as '*h₂stḗr' meaning 'star', with a proposed literal sense of 'glower, shiner' based on an older root meaning 'to burn, glow'. [3] [5]

Full etymology tree

aster (English), 'Any of several plants of the genus Aster; one of its flowers.'
- borrowed aster (Latin), 'A star'
  - borrowed ἀστήρ (astḗr) (Ancient Greek), 'a celestial body (star, planet, and other lights in the sky such as meteors).'
    - inherited *astḗr (Proto-Hellenic), 'star'
      - inherited *h₂stḗr (Proto-Indo-European), 'star'
        affix *h₂e(h₁)s- (Proto-Indo-European)
        suffix *-tḗr (Proto-Indo-European), 'Derives agent nouns from verb roots, denoting someone or something whose role or purpose it is to perform the root's action.'

Ancestors

*h₂eHs- (Proto-Indo-European)
aster (Latin)
ἀστήρ (Ancient Greek)

Cognates and doublets

estoile (English)
étoile (English)
star (English)
stella (English)

Descendants and derived words

aster (Cebuano)
asterless (English)
asteroid (English)
asteroid (English)
asterwort (English)
aster yellows (English)
China aster (English)
devilweed aster (English)
Fall aster (English)
Mojave-aster (English)
monaster (English)
New England aster (English)

Sources

Updated October 2026

More words starting with A

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris