Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Gr. archæol., a modern name for a cinerary jar representing the human figure, somewhat like the ancient Egyptian Canopic vases.
  • noun The brightest star but one in the heavens, one magnitude brighter than Arcturus and only half a magnitude fainter than Sirius.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Astron.) A star of the first magnitude in the southern constellation Argo.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun astronomy A yellowish-white supergiant star in the constellation Carina; Alpha (α) Carinae. It is the second brightest star in the night sky.
  • proper noun Greek mythology The pilot of King Menelaus's ship in the Iliad.
  • proper noun An ancient city in northern Egypt, known for extravagance.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun supergiant star 650 light years from Earth; second brightest star in the sky

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin Canōpus, from Ancient Greek Κάνωπος ("Kanopos")

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Examples

  • The evil alignment of Saturn and Neptune in Canopus, the Dog star, portends a withering attack of werewolf spirits looking for your dog to inhabit.

    Archive 2007-04-01 2007

  • The Egyptian city known as Canopus seems also have been a goddess temple, as the Greek historian Strabo 63BCE-21CE considered the place to be notorious for wild sexual activities.

    Archive 2008-03-01 Jan 2008

  • That would allow me to determine if the Canopus is the problem.

    VideoHelp.com Forum 2009

  • Other litters were freighted with purple robes of the finest linen and of all possible shades from the incarnadine hue of the rose to the deep crimson of the blood of the grape; _calasires_ of the linen of Canopus, which is thrown all white into the vat of the dyer, and comes forth again, owing to the various astringents in which it had been steeped, diapered with the most brilliant colours; tunics brought from the fabulous land of Seres, made from the spun slime of a worm which feeds upon leaves, and so fine that they might be drawn through a finger-ring.

    King Candaules Th��ophile Gautier 1841

  • How long would it take the "Canopus" to travel four miles?

    Reach for Tomorrow Clarke, Arthur C. 1956

  • With any luck, the "Canopus" should not take off for another two hours at least.

    Reach for Tomorrow Clarke, Arthur C. 1956

  • Drifting through the still air from a source clearly not more than a mile away came the sound of a landing-field tractor, perhaps one of the machines loading the "Canopus" itself.

    Reach for Tomorrow Clarke, Arthur C. 1956

  • How he would laugh at his fears when he strolled into his already reserved stateroom in the "Canopus," and felt that peculiar quiver as the phantom drive hurled the great ship far out of this system, back to the clustered star-clouds near the center of the Galaxy-back toward Earth itself, which he had not seen for so many years.

    Reach For Tomorrow Clarke, Arthur C. 1956

  • It was no use then regretting the lateness of his departure: he could not have foreseen these accidents, and it was still a good four hours before the "Canopus" took off.

    Reach for Tomorrow Clarke, Arthur C. 1956

  • How he would laugh at his fears when he strolled into his already reserved stateroom in the "Canopus," and felt that peculiar quiver as the phantom drive hurled the great ship far out of this system, back to the clustered star-clouds near the center of the Galaxy-back toward Earth itself, which he had not seen for so many years.

    Reach for Tomorrow Clarke, Arthur C. 1956

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