stellify

S1T1E1L1L1I1F4Y4
UK, US/ˈstɛl.ɪ.faɪ/

verb

To transform from an earthly body into a celestial body; to place in the sky as such

“In Classical mythology, being stellified was about the greatest posthumous honor for a mortal.”

OriginMiddle English stellifien ← Middle French stellifier ← Medieval Latin stellificāre →
Scrabble 14
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Meanings

verbstellify (third-person singular simple present stellifies, present participle stellifying, simple past and past participle stellified)

present singular third person stellifies · participle present stellifying · participle past stellified · past stellified

  1. transitivehuman sciencesTo transform from an earthly body into a celestial body; to place in the sky as such

    In Classical mythology, being stellified was about the greatest posthumous honor for a mortal.

    1 more example

    By the 'hissing snake' Spenser presumably means the scorpion sent by Diana that killed Orion. Like Orion it, too, was stellified. But since, as Scorpio, it rises in the east as Orion's sign sets in the west, the two were regarded as being kept forever apart, Orion perpetually avoiding in the heavens his vanquisher on earth.

    1983, Douglas Brooks-Davies, The Mercurian Monarch: magical politics from Spenser to Pope, page 31
  2. transitiveastronomyTo turn into a star.

    An alternative way to stellify the planet may be to not collapse Jupiter, but instead to introduce a collapsed object into its core.

    1989, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, 109: 75

Origin

  1. Latinstella“star”
  2. Medieval Latinstellificāre
  3. Middle Frenchstellifier
  4. Middle Englishstellifien“to make into a star; glorify, deify”
  5. Englishstellify

From Middle English stellifien (“to make into a star; glorify, deify”), from Middle French stellifier, from Medieval Latin stellificāre, itself from Latin stella (“star”) + faciō (“make, do”).

More words from Middle English, Middle French, Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish muuttaa tähdeksi, muuttaa tähdeksi
  • muuttaa tähdeksimythology: to transform from an earthly body into a celestial body
  • muuttaa tähdeksiastronomy: to turn into a star
French stellifier
  • stellifiermythology: to transform from an earthly body into a celestial body
Russian превраща́ть в звезду́
  • превраща́ть в звезду́ (prevraščátʹ)mythology: to transform from an earthly body into a celestial body
Cite this entry
APA

stellify. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stellify

MLA

“stellify.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stellify. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stellify,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stellify.

Source: stellify on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.