nova

nounnouncommon in dialogue

United Kingdom//ˈnəʊ.və//
United States//ˈnoʊ.və//

Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.

noun

1
Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
In these stellar pairings, if the two stars are close together, the white dwarf will siphon mass away from its companion and have an outburst called a nova. And when the white dwarf accumulates too much mass, it will collapse and explode in a supernova.
2
Variant of classical novaEllipsis of classical nova

Etymology

Feminine nominative singular of Latin novus (“new”). The feminine is used since stella (“star”) is feminine; thus nova is a shortening of nova stella (“new star”), first used in this sense in 1573 by Tycho Brahe.

noun

1
Also a form of novumplural of novum

Etymology

Blend of novum + Latin -a. From the Latin -a suffix used as the plural suffix form for singular words ending with -um (an inflection of -us).

Forms

plural: novae, novas

notion · Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or…notorious · Senses with an unfavourable connotation. Of a person or…Nottingham · A city, unitary authority, and borough of Nottinghamshire,…

nova · Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.

Nova · A female given name from Latin.Novak · A surname.novel · Newly made, formed or evolved; having no precedent; of recent…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.