Pleiad

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One of the Pleiades.
2. n. A group of seven illustrious persons.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One of a close group of small stars in the constellation Taurus, very conspicuous on winter evenings, about twenty-four degrees north of the equator, and coming to the meridian at midnight in the middle of November. For some unknown reason, there were anciently said to be seven Pleiads, although only six were conspicuous then as now; hence the suggestion of a lost Pleiad. In mythology the Pleiads were said to be the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and were named Alcyone, Merope, Celæno, Electra, Sterope or Asterope, Taygeta, and Maia. These names, with those of the parents, have been applied by modern astronomers since Ricciolo (a. d. 1665) to the principal stars of the group. Four of the brightest stars are at the corners of a trapezoid, with one in the base near the star at the northern angle, and one outside the trapezoid, like a handle to a dipper. Alcyone, the brightest of the group, is a greenish star, of magnitude 3.0, at the east end of the base of the trapezoid; it is h Tauri. Electra is a very white star, of magnitude 3.0, at the westernmost corner of the trapezoid, on the short side opposite the base. Taygeta is a yellowish star, of magnitude 4.4, at the northern corner on the base. Merope is a yellowish star, of magnitude 4.2, at the southernmost corner, not on the base. It is surrounded by a faint nebula, discovered by Tempel many years ago, and visible with a telescope of moderate dimensions. But photographs show that the cluster is also full of invisible wisps and filaments of nebulosity, which are for the most part attached to the larger stars. Maia is a yellowish star, of magnitude 4.0, on the base of the trapezoid, close to the northern angle, but not in it. Asterope is a double star, of magnitude 5.7, not very conspicuous, forming an equilateral triangle with Taygeta and Maia, and lying outside of the trapezoid. Celæeno is a star of magnitude 5.2. half-way between Electra and Taygeta, just a little outside the western slanting side of the trapezoid. Atlas is a yellowish star, of magnitude 3.8, the second or third brightest in the group, which lies out of the trapezoid, considerably to the east, as in the handle of the dipper. Pleione is a star of magnitude 5.1, a little north of Atlas.

Wiktionary

1. n. mythology any one of the Pleiades
2. n. a group of 16th century French poets who sought to enrich the French language
3. n. astronomy, demonym a member of the Pleiades cluster

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One of the Pleiades.