a variable star that undergoes a cataclysmic eruption, observed as a sudden large increase in brightness with a subsequent decline over months or years; it is a close binary system with one component a white dwarf
Compare supernova
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
no•va /ˈnoʊvə/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. -vas, -vae /-vi/.USA pronunciation
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Astronomya star that suddenly becomes thousands of times brighter and then fades to its original brightness.
no•va
(nō′və),USA pronunciation n., pl. -vas, -vae (-vē).USA pronunciation [Astron.]
no′va•like′, adj.
No•va (nō′və),USA pronunciation n.
- Astronomya star that suddenly becomes thousands of times brighter and then gradually fades to its original intensity. Cf. supernova.
- Neo-Latin: noun, nominal use of feminine of Latin novus new
- 1680–90
No•va (nō′və),USA pronunciation n.
- FoodAlso called No′va Salm′on. a Pacific salmon cured in the style of Nova Scotia salmon.
- Food(l.c.) (loosely) any smoked salmon. Cf. Nova Scotia salmon.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'nova' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Acadian
- Amherst
- Annapolis Royal
- Ars Antiqua
- Ars Nova
- Atlantic Provinces
- Cabot
- Canso
- Cape Breton
- Cape Breton Island
- Dartmouth
- Digby chicken
- Eastern Algonquian
- French Shore
- French Southern and Antarctic Lands
- Fundy
- Glace Bay
- Grand Pré
- Halifax
- Haligonian
- Huambo
- Landini cadence
- Louisbourg
- Louisburg
- Machaut
- Maritime Provinces
- Mersey
- Micmac
- Minas Basin
- NS
- New Glasgow
- Northumberland Strait
- Nova Iguaçu
- Nova Lisboa
- Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever
- Nova Scotia lox
- Nova Scotia salmon
- Nova Scotian
- Pugwash conferences
- Robinson
- Sable
- Sable Island pony
- Saint Lawrence
- Sydney
- Truro
- Vila Nova de Gaia
- Yarmouth
- bluenose
- bossa nova