Lodestar

//ˈləʊd.stɑː(ɹ)// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A star used as a navigation reference, particularly a pole star such as Polaris.

    "Tho when her ways he could no more descry, But to and fro at disaventure strayd; Like as a ship, whose lodestarre, suddenly Covered with cloudes, her pilot hath dismayd"

  2. 2
    something that serves as a model or guide wordnet
  3. 3
    A guiding tenet or principle. figuratively

    "Selfe loue, to him ſelf tender, to the reſt tough, / Is, of iuſt iuſtice, neither roote, braunce, nor bough. / Loue (namely ſelfe loue) corruptibly growyng, / Is cheefe lodeſter of lets, in iuſtice ſhowing."

  4. 4
    guiding star; a star that is used as a reference point in navigation or astronomy wordnet
  5. 5
    A calculated amount to award as attorney's fees derived by multiplying the reasonable number of hours spent working on a case by the reasonable hourly billing rate.

    "Many, though not all, of the objections to lodestars seem to us to be overstated."

Etymology

From Middle English lode (“journey, course”) + star, where lode is an archaic noun from the verb lithe (“to go, journey”), related to lead. Other Middle English spellings include: 14th century loode sterre, lood-sterre, lade-sterne; and 15th century lode sterre. Cognate with Old Norse leiðarstjarna, Dutch leidster, German Leitstern, Danish ledestjerne, Swedish ledstjärna.

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