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Glite Dictionary
Little Bear

Little Bear

6.0
A small group of stars in the northern sky that includes the North Star
  • proper noun
translation icon : Osa Menor
  • The Little Dipper forms almost the entire constellation of the Little Bear.

Examples

  • -That's Ursa Minor, the Little Bear.

    The Sure Thing (1985)

  • Polaris is at the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper and, at the same time, at the tip of the Little Bear's tail.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • In the night sky, the Little Bear can be easily identified by its distinct shape, resembling a small dipper.

  • Astrologers often refer to the Little Bear when discussing constellations of the northern hemisphere.

  • The North Star is located within the constellation known as the Little Bear.

Synonyms

Little Dipper
vsLittle Bear
2 5.6

A group of seven stars that look like a small spoon in the northern sky with Polaris at its handle

refers to the constellation as a whole rather than just the star pattern
Ursa Minor
vsLittle Bear
7.1

A small group of stars in the north sky with the North Star

is a common English name used instead of the Latin label

Surface Forms

Little Bear main

Morphology

little + bear

The phrase transparently combines 'little' + 'bear' so learners can infer the literal image of a small bear and many languages use an equivalent name for Ursa Minor, giving a partial cue. However, identifying it specifically as a constellation (the Little Dipper that contains the North Star) requires world-knowledge and is not derivable from the constituent words alone, so the meaning is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Little Bear comes from the way the stars make a small bear shape in the sky, so people also call this group 'Ursa Minor' or the 'Little Dipper'. Because the 'North Star' sits inside that little bear shape, Little Bear now names the group of stars that includes the 'North Star'.