Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language is regarded by many as the finest English
dictionary ever published. The dictionary is available in many forms. I made the content available here for my own purposes,
out of personal admiration for this particular dictionary.
AS'TERISK, n. [Gr. a little star, from a star.] The figure of a star thus, *, used in printing and writing as a reference to a passage or note in the margin, or to fill the space when a name is omitted.
asterisk appears in definitions for these words: AsterismStar