Alkaid

noun

Al·​kaid

variants or less commonly Alcaid

ˌal-ˈkād 

astronomy

: a bluish-white star of the second magnitude that marks the end of the handle of the Big Dipper

Next, I targeted NGC 5448, a … spiral located just east of the bright star Alkaid at the tail of Ursa Major, close to the Bootes border.

—William A. McLaughlin, Astronomy, February 1997

called also Eta Ursae Majoris

Word History

First Known Use

1675, in the meaning defined above

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