Aldebaran

noun

Al·​deb·​a·​ran al-ˈde-bə-rən 

: a red star of the first magnitude that is seen in the eye of Taurus and is the brightest star in the Hyades

Examples of Aldebaran in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Look for Jupiter midway between the nearly full Moon and bright orange star Aldebaran in the evening sky. —John Tufts, The Courier-Journal, 10 Dec. 2024

The hunter’s moon is expected to be joined by Jupiter, a red giant star called Aldebaran and the star cluster Pleiades, according to EarthSky. —Gina Park and Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 Oct. 2024

Though Aldebaran b’s existence was supposedly confirmed in 2015, a follow-up study in 2019 threw it into question once more. —Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Sep. 2024

Nearby will be orangey Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus and about 65 light-years from the solar system. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024

The entire sky will be lit up with not only these planets and the moon, but also the Pleiades, Aldebaran and the Hyades star clusters, along with the Orion Nebula. —Caralin Nunes, The Arizona Republic, 18 Jan. 2024

Robotics teams are therefore constrained by design choices that the original developers made (Aldebaran for Pepper, Italian Institute of Technology for iCub). —Mark Paterson, The Conversation, 26 Jan. 2024

Then sweep clockwise to Procyon, the Gemini twins Pollux and Castor, Capella, Aldebaran and down to Rigel, Orion’s bright, blue-white foot. —Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2024

There’s also Taurus the Bull, appearing as a little arrow pointing to the right, outlining the bull’s face with the reddish star Aldebaran marking the angry red eye of the beast. —Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 7 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin, borrowed from Arabic al-dabarān, probably a name for the Hyades star cluster

Note: Arabic usage is not uniform in regard to whether al-dabarān is to be interpreted as the star α Tauri, or the entire Hyades star cluster, though the phrase in the Almagest, translating Ptolemy's Greek text, suggests the latter. Arabic authors took dabarān as a derivative of the root d-b-r, with meanings related to "back" (hence dabarī "trailing behind"), on the grounds that the Hyades, along with α Tauri, trailed behind or followed the Pleiades. This has the appearance of an after-the-fact etymology, however, and dabarān may be a pre-Islamic name for the cluster, of unknown origin. See Paul Kunitzsch, Arabische Sternnamen in Europa (Wiesbaden, 1959) pp. 109-10.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

Aldebaran

noun

Al·​deb·​a·​ran al-ˈdeb-ə-rən 

: a very bright red star in Taurus