lodestar means A star used as a navigation reference, particularly a pole star such as Polaris.
lodestar is pronounced /ˈləʊd.stɑː(ɹ)/.
Why “lodestar” is a great word
A fixed star, especially Polaris, used to guide navigation, or an unwavering principle that serves as a model. From Middle English lode sterre, from lode ("course, way, journey") + sterre ("star"), where lode is related to the verb lead, first recorded in the late 14th century. Unlike "cynosure," which signifies a center of admiration, or "lodestone," which denotes magnetic attraction, lodestar emphasizes constancy rather than allure. It is the cold, unwavering point in the northern dark that holds a ship to its course; the quiet moral insight that steadies a life in crisis; the single thought in a turbulent mind that remains true—light that does not warm, but without which all movement risks becoming drift.
Etymology
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
- A star used as a navigation reference, particularly a pole star such as Polaris.e.g.“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.
- 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.e.g.“Many, though not all, of the objections to lodestars seem to us to be overstated.”
Words closest in meaning
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