polestar

[ pohl-stahr ]

/ ˈpoʊlˌstɑr /

something that serves as a guiding principle.

something that is the center of attention or attraction.

Nearby words

First recorded in 1545–55; pole² + star

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

The title of the piece was "Bereavement" By some strange means, it served as the pole-star to my wandering thoughts.
Cape Cod Folks|Sarah P. McLean Greene
The contracting couple are then shown the pole-star (Arundhati), and milk and fruit are given to them.
Castes and Tribes of Southern India|Edgar Thurston
She was gazing out toward the pole-star and the dim clouds that lay motionless beneath it.
The Road to Frontenac|Samuel Merwin
It was not the pole-star he lost sight of, or the compass he mistrusted; it was the seaworthiness of the vessel.
Spare Hours|John Brown

The constellation of the Scorpion rises higher in the south, whilst the Pole-star apparently falls.
Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 1|James Richardson

the North Star (see Polaris), 1550s, from pole (n.2) + star (n.).