Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Pyxis and Carina.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Plural of velum.

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

  • proper noun astronomy A spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble the sails of a ship. Until 1763, it was part of a larger constellation, Argo Navis.

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

  • noun a constellation in the southern hemisphere between Carina and Pyxis

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin vēla, pl. of vēlum, sail (so called because it formed the sails of the formerly recognized constellation Argo Navis, considered to represent Jason's ship, the Argo ).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1763. From Latin vēla (pl. of vēlum), the "sails of a ship"

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