Crux Australis

9.0

A small bright group of stars in the southern sky called the Southern Cross

proper noun

: Cruz del Sur

The Crux Australis is one of the most recognizable constellations in the Southern Hemisphere.

Examples

Navigators have used the Crux Australis for centuries to help determine their direction at sea.
The flag of several Southern Hemisphere countries features the Crux Australis as a symbol of their location.
During his travels in Australia, he looked up to admire the Crux Australis in the clear night sky.
Have you ever seen the Crux Australis on a clear night?
During his travels in Australia, he looked up to admire the Crux Australis in the clear night sky.
Navigators have used the Crux Australis for centuries to help determine their direction at sea.
The flag of several Southern Hemisphere countries features the Crux Australis as a symbol of their location.

Synonyms

Southern Cross

vsCrux Australis

3 6.8

A small group of stars that makes a cross shape in the southern sky

is the same constellation but uses another common English name

Crux

vsCrux Australis

1 9.1

A small group of bright stars in the southern sky called the Southern Cross

is the same constellation but known under a different name form

Surface Forms

Crux Australis main

Morphology

Crux + Australis

Crux Australis is a Latin proper name whose parts are directly compositional: 'crux' (cross or a named constellation) + 'australis' (southern), so the phrase literally means 'Southern Cross'. This structure is transparent and widely mirrored across languages (e.g. Romance equivalents), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings would readily infer the MWE's referent.

Etymology

Crux Australis comes from Latin and literally has two parts: Crux ('cross') and Australis ('southern'), because the bright stars form a small cross in the southern sky. Sailors and travellers used that cross of stars to find direction, so the name now means the 'Southern Cross' and is a symbol of the Southern Hemisphere.