Paul Boccaccio

Word of the day is “asterism.” Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as:

1. A group or cluster of stars; a constellation.
2. loosely, A star, or anything shaped like one.
3. A group of three asterisks placed thus (⁂) to direct attention to a particular passage. Rarely, a single asterisk (*) so used.
4. Min. (Also in modern Latin form asterismus.) An appearance of light in the shape of a six-rayed star seen in some crystals, as in star sapphire.

From the Greek ἀστερισμός, which means “a marking with stars, a constellation.”