aster: Meaning and Definition of

as•ter

1. any composite plant of the genus Aster, having rays varying from white or pink to blue around a yellow disk.
2. a plant of some allied genus, as the China aster.
3. a structure formed in a cell during mitosis, composed of astral rays radiating about the centrosome.
4. sunflower (def. 2).

-aster

1. a diminutive or pejorative suffix denoting something that imperfectly resembles or mimics the true thing: criticaster; poetaster, oleaster.

-aster

1. a combining form with the meaning “star,” used in the formation of compound words: diaster.