Betelgeuse

Ultimately from an alteration of the Arabic يَد الجَوْزَاء (yad al-jawzāʔ, “hand of the central one”), from يَد (yad, “hand”) + جَوْزَاء (jawzāʔ, “central one”).

Jawzā, ‘the central one’, initially referred to Gemini among the Arabs, but at some point they decided to refer to Orion by that name. During the Middle Ages the first character of the name, yā’ (ي, with two underdots), was misread as a bā’ (ب, with one underdot) when transliterating into Latin, and Yad al-Jauza became Bedalgeuze. This was then misinterpreted during the Renaissance as deriving from a corruption of an original Arabic form إِبْط الجَوْزَاء (ʔibṭ al-jawzāʔ, “armpit of the central one”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːtldʒuːz/, /ˈbiːtldʒuːs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbidlˌdʒus/, /ˈbɛdlˌdʒus/, /ˈbidlˌdʒuz/, /ˈbɛdlˌdʒuz/

Betelgeuse

1. (astronomy) A bright-red supergiant intrinsic variable star, the second brightest star in the constellation Orion; Alpha (α) Orionis. It is the tenth brightest star in the nighttime, and one of the largest stars known.

   Synonym: Alpha Orionis

   • 2023 May 15, Meghan Bartels, “Betelguese’s Brightening Raises Hopes for a Supernova Spectacle”, in Scientific American‎, archived from the original on 2023-05-15‎:

     Even if you don’t know it by name, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse is one of the most familiar sights in the heavens above—a gleaming ruddy dot at the shoulder of the constellation Orion. Although already quite difficult to overlook, Betelgeuse has become even more eye-catching across the past few years because of major changes in its appearance—unexpected fluctuations in its brightness that remain poorly understood.

• Beetlejuice (eye dialect)

• “Betelgeuse”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• Betelgeuse at Google Ngram Viewer
• “Betelgeuse, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Betelgeuse”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Betelgeuse”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Betelgeuse” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

• IPA^(key): [b̥etˢɛlˈɡ̊øːsə]

Betelgeuse (genitive Betelgeuses)

1. Betelgeuse

Ultimately from an alteration of the Arabic يَد الجَوْزَاء (yad al-jawzāʔ, “hand of the central one”), from يَد (yad, “hand”) + جَوْزَاء (jawzāʔ, “central one”).

• IPA^(key): /be.telˈd͡ʒɛw.ze/
• Rhymes: -ɛwze
• Hyphenation: Be‧tel‧gèu‧se

Betelgeuse f

1. Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)