morning starn.
/ˌmɔːnɪŋ ˈstɑː/, U.S. /ˈmɔrnɪŋ ˌstɑr/ 1.
a. A star or planet that is visible in the morning; spec. (with the) the planet Venus when visible in the east before sunrise. Cf. Lucifer n. 1a, phosphorus n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > inferior planet > [noun] > Venus > as morning star
morn-starOE
day starOE
Luciferc1050
morrow starc1350
morning star1535
phosphorus1595
phosphor1606
morning planet1667
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job xxxviii. A Where wast thou when the mornynge starres gaue me prayse.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xii. sig. M2 As bright as doth the morning starre appeare Out of the East.
1645 J. Milton Song: On May Morning in Poems 26 Now the bright morning Star, Dayes harbinger, Comes dancing from the East.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 112 I saw her [sc. the queen of France]..glittering like the morning-star . View more context for this quotation
1812 R. Woodhouse Elem. Treat. Astron. xxiii. 249 Perceive Venus rising just before the Sun, and becoming the Morning Star.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 6 Oct. 12/1 The three most conspicuous naked-eye planets are ‘morning stars’, and early risers may note them heralding the sunrise in the north-east.
1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 108 The light was just showing in the east and the morning star was high, when the poacher showed up.
1989 O. V. Vijayan After the Hanging 124 He sat there a long while, and when he came out of his reverie, the morning star had risen.
b. figurative. A person or thing regarded as the precursor or herald of a new dawn, era, etc.In earliest use applied to Christ, with reference to Revelation 22:16: see quot. 1535.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > the Son or Christ > [noun] > according to other attributes
horn of salvation (health)c825
fatherOE
sun of righteousnessOE
priestc1175
leecha1200
vinec1315
apostlec1382
amenc1384
shepherdc1384
the Wisdom of the Father1402
high priest1526
pelican1526
mediatora1530
reconcilerc1531
branch1535
morning star1535
surety1535
vicar1651
arch-shepherd1656
hierarch1855
particularity1930
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [noun] > antecedent or precursor
forerunnerOE
forridelc1000
messengerc1300
precursora1500
waymaker1574
postiliona1586
ushera1586
precedence1598
vaunt-courier1598
precedent1599
prodromus1602
ante-disposition1611
precedency1611
prodrome1611
antecedent1612
antedating1633
leading card1635
prodromy1647
antecessor1657
precursorya1660
prodromist1716
morning star1721
skirmisher1820
antecursor1850
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Rev. xxii. 16 I am the rote and the generacion of David, and the bright mornynge starre.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 145 He [sc. Christ] is the Morning Star.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State ii. viii. 79 Great was the spight of Erasmus, the morning-starre of learning.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 294 So spake our Morning Star then in his rise. View more context for this quotation
1721 J. Hughes Siege Damascus (ed. 2) iii. i. 35 The great Mahomet, Arabia's morning-star.
1732 D. Neal Hist. Puritans I. 3 John Wickliffe, the morning star of the Reformation.
1813 Ld. Byron Giaour (ed. 7) 55 She..rose, where'er I turn'd mine eye—The Morning-star of Memory!
1832 Ld. Tennyson Dream Fair Women v, in Poems (new ed.) 123 ‘The legend of good women’, long ago Sung by the morningstar of song, who made His music heard below.
1969 Daily Tel. Mag. 10 Jan. 12 They feel themselves today to be the pacemakers in American society, the morning star of the coming revolution.
1988 A. Walker Enemy Territory (BNC) 83 The Enlightenment was the morning star of modernity.
2. Weaponry. A weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes and either attached to the head of a club or connected to a handle by a length of chain; = morgenstern n. Now archaic or historical.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun] > armed club
masuelc1312
macec1325
maulc1325
mell1333
brogged staff1429
balk-staffc1460
malleta1500
quarterstaff?1560
sport staff1634
morgenstern1637
roundhead1643
morning star1684
patu patu1769
patuc1771
shell-stick1790
holy water sprinkler1816
mace-head1824
shark's teeth sword1845
taiaha1845
1684 J. P. von Valcaren Relation Siege Vienna 87 Our Men being provided with..Hooks and Clubs headed with Iron, Morning Stars and the like Instruments.
1868 Archæol. Jrnl. 25 85 The acquisition by the Royal Artillery Museum..of some specimens of ‘Morning Stars’.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. iv. iii. 322 Here hangs a morning-star, so strong, The like of which I've wanted long.
1968 P. Warner Sieges of Middle Ages ii. 38 The halberd..was superseded by the morning star, a five-foot club studded with spikes.
1990 Dragon Mag. Mar. (Dungeon Suppl.) p. I/1 Six troglodytes..attack with their morning stars if anyone attempts to cross the bridge.
3. English regional and Irish English. A star of Bethlehem (flower), Ornithogalum umbellatum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > Solomon's seal or star of Bethlehem
whitewort?c1400
Solomon's seal1543
dog's onion1548
white root1548
ornithogalum1562
Our Lady's cowslip1565
St John's seal1567
star of Bethlehem1573
ornithogal1578
field onion1582
Polygonatum1597
star of Bethlehem1629
Ladder to Heaven1640
Star of Naples1722
smilacina1808
seal-wort1837
lady's seal1870
peep of day1882
morning star1890
chinkerinchee1926
1890 Nature Notes 1 23 Morning-star..Ornithogalum umbellatum.
a1903 W. M. E. Fowler in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 162/2 [Hampshire] Our gardin be full o' mornin' stars.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 189/1 Morning-star, the star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1535