Pleiad

American  

[plee-uhd, plahy-uhd] / ˈpli əd, ˈplaɪ əd /

noun

1. any of the Pleiades.

2. French Pléiade.  a group of seven French poets of the latter half of the 16th century.

3. (usually lowercase) any group of eminent or brilliant persons or things, especially when seven in number.

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Pleiad ¹ British  

/ ˈplaɪəd /

noun

1. one of the Pleiades (stars or daughters of Atlas)

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pleiad ² British  

/ ˈplaɪəd /

noun

1. a brilliant or talented group, esp one with seven members

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Etymology

Origin of pleiad

C16: originally French Pléiade, name given by Pierre de Ronsard to himself and six other poets after a group of Alexandrian Greek poets who were called this after the _Pleiades ¹

Example Sentences

John Rogers' Lost Pleiad shows American sculpture at its most blatantly sentimental.

From Time Magazine Archive

Lyly and his Oxford clique were attempting a revolution similar to that undertaken, at the same period, by Ronsard and his Pleiad.

From John Lyly by Wilson, John Dover

A spark-like light my son lit, reminded me of the lost Pleiad.

From Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills by Owen, Luella Agnes

It would begin principally with Spenser and Ben Jonson, who in some measure represented in their land what the Pleiad meant in France, and Opitz and his following in Germany.

From Horace and His Influence by Showerman, Grant

I can see only six of them, and there is a famous old tale about the "lost Pleiad."

From Earth and Sky Every Child Should Know Easy studies of the earth and the stars for any time and place by Rogers, Julia Ellen