star [OE] The Latin word stella ‘star’, which gave us star constellation [ME] and stellar [M17th], was related to the two Greek equivalents, astēr and astron, the source of words such as *asterisk and astrology [LME]. The latter is the source of expressions such as thank your lucky stars found from the late 16th century. Star was used of a famous or talented entertainer from the late 18th century. Eventually a star was not big or glittering enough, and superstar [E20th] was coined, followed by megastar in the 1960s. See also hitch.