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

Both the moon and Jupiter will be in the Taurus constellation during the close approach, appearing as two bright points above the red supergiant star Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation and thus referred to as the eye of the bull. —Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 10 Jan. 2025

Red Supergiant Stars Many of the stars in the Dragon Arc are red supergiants, similar to Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion and Aldebaran in Taurus, both of which are visible now in the eastern night sky immediately after sunset. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025

The bright-red supergiant star Aldebaran will align with the trio. —Jamie Carter, Space.com, 28 Dec. 2024

Photo: SoftBank Robotics One audience member remembered Aldebaran, the French company that gave us Pepper. —IEEE Spectrum, 24 Sep. 2018

Taurus, with its orangey star Aldebaran and, above, The Pleiades, an open cluster of stars. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024

The planet can be found between the nearly full moon and a reddish-orange star called Aldebaran, which shines brightest in the Taurus constellation and can be seen with the naked eye. —Denise Chow, NBC News, 13 Dec. 2024

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

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