English Explanatory Dictionary

nova

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
  2. Ellipsis of classical nova
noun
  1. plural of novum
name
  1. A female given name from Latin.
noun
  1. Smoked Nova Scotia salmon.
name
  1. Alternative letter-case form of NoVA.
name
  1. Acronym of Northern Virginia.
name
  1. Alternative letter-case form of NoVA (“North Virginia”).
noun
  1. Initialism of notification of vehicle arrival.
  2. Acronym of neuro-oncological ventral antigen.

Pronunciation

/ˈnəʊ.və/ /ˈnoʊ.və/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-nova.wav

Word forms

nova novae novas novums

Etymology

Feminine nominative singular of Latin novus (“new”). The feminine is used since stella (“star”) is feminine; thus nova is a shortening of nova stella (“new star”), first used in this sense in 1573 by Tycho Brahe.

Related words

novel novum planetary nebula plerion preplanetary nebula protoplanetary nebula ars nova bossa nova

Derived words

classical nova dwarf nova failed supernova hypernova kilonova macronova micronova novalike nova-like nova remnant quark nova recurrent nova red nova stellar nova supernova supernova imposter supernova remnant unnova NOVA1
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