Noun sense 1.1.2 (“something which is of little importance or which is marginal”) refers to the use of an asterisk to denote a footnote or marginal note in a text; in other words, information that is not important enough to be incorporated into the main text.Noun sense 1.1.3 (“blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement”) refers to the use of an asterisk in a sporting record to indicate that the record is qualified in some manner (for example, that the sportsperson was found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs at the time).[3]
1754,Thomas Edwards, “Canon XVIII. He may Explane His Author, or Any Former Editor of Him; by Supplying Such Words, or Pieces of Words, or Marks, as He Thinks Fit for that Purpose.”, inThe Canons of Criticism, and Glossary;[…], 6th edition, London:[…] C. Bathurst,[…],→OCLC,page157:
He is in the right to put theAſteriſks, not the VVords into the text; becauſe They do indeed give us [notice, that there is in Them] as much additional meaning, as there vvould be in thoſe vvords vvhich they ſo properly repreſent.
I having been looking at your pamphlet, and shewing it, but I mention no names. I don't see the use of names, for my part, unless it be to put inasterisks. It is—yes—very, indeed.
[1849, M. J. B. Silvestre, “Plate LXI. Square Uncial Greek Writing. IVth. or Vth. Century. Fragments of the Greek Pentateuch, in the Bibliothèque Royale.”, inFrederic Madden, transl.,Universal Palæography: Or, Fac-similes of Writings of All Nations and Periods,[…], volume I, London:Henry G[eorge] Bohn,[…],→OCLC,page163:
There is no punctuation, but three signs are used, namely, 1st, theasterisc (※); 2nd, the obelus (—:); and 3rd, the two dots (:). Theasteriscs indicate the words of the Hebrew text, not admitted by the Seventy into their Greek version, which words are included between theasterisc and the two dots;[…]
Used to refer to a different symbol.]
1869, “Notices Useful to the Foreigner”, inOne Week at Venice: Illustrated Guide for Visiting Every Thing Worthy of Consideration, Venice: Colombo Coen’s New Library,[…],→OCLC,page128:
The Hôtels marked with oneasterisc are Restaurants also. Those marked with twoasteriscs have Table d'Hôte.
Above all, the 48-page timetables of the new service, which have been distributed free at every station in the scheme, are a model to the rest of B.R. For the first time on British Railways, so far as we are aware, a substantial timetable has been produced, not only without a single footnote but also devoid of all wearisomeasterisks, stars, letter suffixes and other hieroglyphics.
On the other hand, The New York Times favors the 'it doesn't exist' formula. It has prudishly renamed the play Shopping and … [Mark Ravenhill's playShopping and Fucking (1996)] Everyone does it, no one will name it! The Times doesn’t even give it anasterisk or two. Three little dots must suffice. "How was it for you, my darling?" "That was the greatest three little dots I ever had in my life!"
2012, Úrsula Flores-Perez, Manuel Rodriguez-Concepcion, “Carotenoids”, in Andrew Salter, Helen Wiseman, Gregory Tucker, editors,Phytonutrients, Chichester, West Sussex:Wiley-Blackwell,→ISBN, figure 3.2 caption,page94:
Data were collected from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Nutrition Coordination Center (NCC) Carotenoid Database (Holden et al., 1999) and correspond to raw foods unless indicated with anasterisc (cooked) or twoasteriscs (canned).
Something resembling or shaped like an asterisk symbol.
2016, Courtney Sanchez, “Retro Stove”, inDIY Box Creations: Fun and Creative Projects to Make out of Really Big Boxes!, Lake Forest, Calif.: Walter Foster Jr.,Quarto Publishing Group,→ISBN,page48:
Using a crafting knife, cut a smallasterisk shape in the center of each black circle. Gently pierce eachasterisk with a wooden skewer to make a hole. Once done, simply insert your stove knobs, and you're almost ready!
2016, Charles[Wesley] Marshall, “More SkyMiles, Less Family”, inThe Good Dad Guide, Eugene, Or.:Harvest House Publishers,→ISBN, part 6 (Prevent),page142:
I don't want to be anasterisk in my kids' lives. I don't want to be just some guy who sporadically appears and then disappears again.
The opposing view sees it as an abject failure and historically irrelevant. This verdict was neatly summed up by theNew York Times financial columnistAndrew Ross Sorkin when he predicted, a year on from the event: "It will be anasterisk in the history books, if it gets a mention at all."
1866,John Chrysostom, “Liturgy of the Catechumens”, in[anonymous], transl.,Service of the Divine and Sacred Liturgy of Our Holy Father John Chrysostom.[…], London: Joseph Masters,[…],→OCLC,pages69–70:
Then he [the deacon] reverently covereth the holy Cup with the veil. Likewise he placeth theAsterisk upon the holy Diskos, and the veil over it, and saith the following prayer with the Priest, silently,[…]
1962, Marvin C. Ross, “Copper”, inCatalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, volume 1 (Metalwork, Ceramics, Glass, Glyptics, Painting), Washington, D.C.:Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Trustees forHarvard University, published1970,→OCLC, paragraph 89,page73:
Theasterisk is one of the sacred objects used in the Byzantine rite. It is placed on the paten to protect the Eucharistic bread from contact with the special veil that covers it. The name derives from the shape of the object and symbolically recalls the Biblical words: "And the star came and stood above where the child was"[…] [Matthew 2:9].
2013,Bryan D[ouglas] Spinks, quotingSymeon of Thessalonica (in translation), “The Eucharist and Anaphoras of the Byzantine Synthesis”, inDo This in Remembrance of Me: The Eucharist from the Early Church to the Present Day (SCM Studies in Worship and Liturgy), London:SCM Press,→ISBN,page126:
The diskos, then, typifies the heavens, and for that reason, it is round, and holds the Master of heaven. What is called the ‘asterisk’ represents the stars, especially the one at the birth ofChrist, just as the veils represent the firmament, the swaddling clothes, the shroud, and the burial cloths.
1896 August, The Australasian Insurance, Banking Record, quotees, “The Bank of New Zealand’s Balance Sheet”, in Clement H. Davis, editor,The Bankers’ Magazine of Australasia. An Illustrated Monthly, volume X, number 1, Melbourne, Vic.: Bankers’ Instituteo of Australasia,→OCLC,page43:
Bank of New Zealand Estates Company Share Account now stands, as we have already seen, at £1,089,722 17s. 7d., a reduction of £760,177 2s. 5d. having been effected by the writing off of share capital. But from the point of view of its intrinsic value, the item has still to be dealt with, beingasterisked in the balance sheet as follows:[…]
2003, Rebecca Campbell, “Odette in Venice”, inSlave to Love[…], New York, N.Y.:Villard Books,→ISBN,page95:
She was determined to make the most of the trip, extracting some cultural capital from the emotional waste, and so read carefully through the Venice guidebooks she had brought, underlining the must-dos andasterisking the should-dos.
2020, Christopher Rollason, “Popular Poe Anthologies in the United Kingdom and France”, in Emron Esplin, Margarida Vale de Gato, editors,Anthologizing Poe: Editions, Translations, and (Trans)National Canons, Bethlehem, Pa.:Lehigh University Press; Lanham, Md.; London:The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group,→ISBN, part IV (Wor(l)ding Poe Abroad: Anthologizers, Editors, Illustrators, and Translators),page289:
[Alain] Jaubert's preface is the longest and most detailed in our corpus;[…] It covers both[Edgar Allan] Poe's work in general and the specific content of the volume (Jaubert, ingeniously, adopts an ad hoc typographical device,asterisking the references to the tales of his volume).
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, December 2022;“asterisk,n.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
asterisk on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
