Canopus

[kuh-noh-puh s]

noun

Astronomy. a first-magnitude star in the constellation Carina: the second brightest star in the heavens.

an ancient seacoast city in Lower Egypt, 15 miles (24 km) E of Alexandria.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for canopus

When Devine left Vancouver a week ago, he took up a tin case he keeps the plans and patents of the Canopus in with him.
A Damaged Reputation|Harold Bindloss
Canopus blazed high astern, and Fomalhaut below him to the west, as if bidding us a kind farewell.
At Last|Charles Kingsley
These are caused by people who are going down from Canopus to sleep at the Temple of Serapis.
The Temptation of St. Antony|Gustave Flaubert
There can be little doubt that Canopus, in the southern hemisphere, is a grander sun than Sirius.
Astronomy with an Opera-glass|Garrett Putman Serviss

At any rate, the Canopus did not join Cradock, and he steamed without her towards the foe.
The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 (of 10)|James Edward Parrott

British Dictionary definitions for canopus

Canopus

noun

the brightest star in the constellation Carina and the second brightest star in the sky. Visual magnitude: -0.7; spectral type: F0II; distance: 313 light years

Canopus

noun

a port in ancient Egypt east of Alexandria where granite monuments have been found inscribed with the name of Rameses II and written in languages similar to those of the Rosetta stone

Derived FormsCanopic, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for canopus

Canopus

bright southern star, 1550s, ultimately from Greek Kanopos, Kanobos perhaps from Egyptian Kahi Nub "golden earth." The association with "weight" found in the name of the star in some northern tongues may reflect the fact that it never rises far above the horizon in those latitudes. Also the name of a town in ancient lower Egypt (famous for its temple of Serapis), hence canopic jar, canopic vase, which often held the entrails of embalmed bodies (1878).