nova

1 of 2

noun (1)

no·​va ˈnō-və How to pronounce nova (audio)
plural novas or novae ˈnō-(ˌ)vē How to pronounce nova (audio)
-ˌvī
: a star that suddenly increases its light output tremendously and then fades away to its former obscurity in a few months or years
novalike adjective

nova

2 of 2

noun (2)

often capitalized
: cured and smoked salmon
especially : salmon that has been cured in a mixture of salt and sugar and smoked at a low temperature

Examples of nova in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
To get a separate measure of how unusual this is, the researchers placed 8 million novas around the center of the galaxy, with the distribution being random but biased to match the galaxy's brightness under the assumption that novas will be more frequent in areas with more stars. John Timmer, Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nova.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

borrowed from New Latin, "newly visible star or nebula" (probably originally as ellipsis of nebula nova, later taken as ellipsis of stella nova "new star"), from feminine of Latin novus "new" — more at new entry 1

Noun (2)

short for Nova Scotia salmon

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1927, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nova was in 1927

Dictionary Entries Near nova

Cite this Entry

“Nova.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nova. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

nova

noun
no·​va
ˈnō-və
plural novas or novae
-vē,
-ˌvī
: a star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness and then within a few months or years grows dim again

More from Merriam-Webster on nova

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!