Cygnus

[ sig-nuhs ]

noun,genitive Cyg·ni [sig-nahy]. /ˈsɪg naɪ/. Astronomy.
  1. the Swan, a northern constellation southwest of Draco, containing the bright star Deneb.

Origin of Cygnus

1
<Latin: swan; see cygnet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Cygnus in a sentence

  • The star Alpha Cygni comes to us in a direct line at a speed of 500 millions of leagues per year.

    Urania | Camille Flammarion
  • The object was to determine, night after night, the position of 61 Cygni, relative to certain small stars in its neighborhood.

  • It was by observations of this kind that I sought to detect the parallax of Nova Cygni.

    The Story of the Heavens | Robert Stawell Ball
  • We have entered into the history of 61 Cygni with some detail, because it is the star whose distance has been most studied.

    The Story of the Heavens | Robert Stawell Ball
  • It teaches us that 61 Cygni must each year traverse a distance of not less than ten times the radius of the earth's orbit.

    The Story of the Heavens | Robert Stawell Ball

British Dictionary definitions for Cygnus

Cygnus

/ (ˈsɪɡnəs) /


nounLatin genitive Cygni (ˈsɪɡnaɪ)
  1. a constellation in the N hemisphere lying between Pegasus and Draco in the Milky Way. The constellation contains the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, the intense radio galaxy Cygnus A, and the intense galactic X-ray source Cygnus X–1, which is probably a black hole

Origin of Cygnus

1
Latin: swan; see cygnet

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

Scientific definitions for Cygnus

Cygnus

[ sĭgnəs ]


  1. A constellation in the Northern Hemisphere near Cepheus and Lyra. Cygnus (the Swan, or the Northern Cross) contains the bright star Deneb.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.