Dictionary

Markab en · PROPN

From Arabic مَرْكَب الفَرَس (markab al-faras, “the saddle of the horse”), from مَرْكَب (markab).

A subgiant, visible as a second-magnitude bluish star in the northern constellation of Pegasus, one of four stars in the asterism of the Great Square of Pegasus, one of the lunar stars observed in navigation.
- [Markab—Flamsteed's Marchab—is the Arabs' word for a Saddle, Ship, or Vehicle,—anything ridden upon,—that was early applied to this star; but they also designated it as Matn al Faras, the Horse's Withers or Shoulder, and Bayer cited Yed Alpheras, the Horse's Hand, or, more properly, Forearm,—the Arabian Yad.] 1899, Richard Hinckley Allen, Star-Names and Their Meanings, New York: G. E. Stechert, page 324:
- [Markab (the south-westernmost star in the square) is one of the stars from which the moon's distance is calculated in the Nautical Almanac, for the purpose of finding the longitude by lunar observations.] 1821, Thomas Kerigan, The Young Navigator's Guide to the Sidereal and Planetary Parts of Nautical Astronomy: Being the Theory and Practice of Finding the Latitude, the Longitude, and the Variation of the Compass by the Fixed Stars and Planets. […], London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, page 67:
A star in the constellation Puppis; Kappa (κ) Puppis.
A star in the constellation Vela; Kappa (κ) Velorum.