Charles' Wain

proper noun

A bright circumpolar asterism of the northern sky, said to resemble a wagon or cart. It is part of the constellation Ursa Major and includes the seven stars Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid.

Similar
Big DipperDrinking GourdNorthern LadleNorthern WaggonerPloughWain
OriginMiddle English Charlewayn ← Old English carles wǣn ← Proto-Germanic *karlas wagnaz →
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Meanings

proper noun

alternative Charles's Wain

  1. astronomyA bright circumpolar asterism of the northern sky, said to resemble a wagon or cart. It is part of the constellation Ursa Major and includes the seven stars Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid.

    Charles waine is ouer the new Chimney, and yet our horse not packt.

    c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]
    2 more examples

    Charles's Wain was getting towards a right angle with the Pole star, and Gabriel concluded that it must be about nine o'clock.

    1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter VI, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC

    Down from the heights reels the glittering Cassiopeia as the hours wear on, while Charles’ Wain lumbers up from behind the vapour-soaked swamp trees that sway in the night-wind.

    1920, H.P. Lovecraft, Polaris

    Synonyms: Big Dipper, Drinking Gourd, Northern Ladle, Northern Waggoner, Plough, Wain

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA bright circumpolar asterism of the northern sky, said to resemble a wagon or cart. It is part of the constellation Ursa Major and includes the seven stars Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid.

Similar
Big DipperDrinking GourdNorthern LadleNorthern WaggonerPloughWain
Also see
big dipperdrinking gourdgreat bearnorthern ladlenorthern waggonerploughtrioneswagon

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*karlas wagnaz
  2. Old Englishcarles wǣn
  3. Middle EnglishCharlewayn
  4. EnglishCharles' Wain

From Middle English Charlewayn, from Old English carles wǣn, apparently from a common Proto-Germanic *karlas wagnaz (cognate with forms in other Germanic languages, e.g. Swedish Karlavagnen). It seems that this common Germanic name originally meant the ‘peasant's wagon’ (the churls' wagon) in contrast to the ‘woman's wagon’ (Ursa Minor). Later it was interpreted as ‘Charles's wagon’ and associated with Charlemagne.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Charles' Wain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charles'%20Wain

MLA

“Charles' Wain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charles'%20Wain. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Charles' Wain,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charles'%20Wain.

Source: Charles' Wain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.