STAR - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

STARAuthored

The Law Mind • 801 words

Definition

In legal publishing and citation practice, a star (represented by an asterisk or the symbol *) marks the point in a text where a new page began in an earlier or authoritative edition of the same work. The device allows a reader consulting a later edition, reprint, or compiled version to identify exactly which page of the original edition a given passage appeared on, preserving the original pagination for citation purposes without requiring the later edition to reproduce the original's physical layout.

The term is used most commonly in connection with star pagination in law reports and legal treatises — particularly older English reporters and foundational American legal texts that were reprinted in collected or revised editions. A star in the margin or within the text signals: "the original edition's page break occurred here."

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Any small, natural and bright dot visible in the night sky; a luminous celestial body.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebulae.

The common meaning and the legal publishing meaning share no conceptual overlap. In law books, "star" refers entirely to a typographic convention — a printed mark signaling original pagination. A researcher encountering "star" in a legal citation or editorial note should not search for celestial meaning; it is a term of bibliographic art.

Common Confusion

Star pagination is sometimes confused with marginal notation systems used to indicate sections, paragraphs, or editorial comments. The distinction matters: a star mark specifically preserves page references to a prior edition; it does not signal substantive commentary, headnotes, or editorial additions. Similarly, researchers accustomed to modern databases may encounter star pagination in scanned historical reporters and mistake it for a scanning artifact or typographical error. It is neither — it is intentional and carries citation significance.

Why It Matters in Research

Star pagination is practically essential when working with historical English reporters compiled into series such as the English Reports. The original nominative reporters — Coke's Reports, Burrow, Douglas, and others — were cited by their own pagination, but when reprinted in collected editions, the original page numbers were preserved through star marks embedded in the text. Any citation to the original reporter must be verified against the star-marked page, not the reprint's own running page numbers.

The same principle applies to American legal treatises reprinted across multiple editions. A footnote citing "page 412 of the first edition" cannot be verified from a second or third edition unless the reprint carried star pagination through. When it does not, the researcher must locate the original edition or an edition that preserves the original pagination.

In digital research environments, star pagination survives in PDF facsimiles of historical reporters and in some legal databases that encode original page numbers as jump citations. Researchers moving between a database transcript and a printed reporter need to confirm which pagination system the database is reflecting. Databases do not always make this explicit.

The practical trap: citing a passage from a reprinted edition using the reprint's own page numbers, when the accepted citation form for that reporter calls for the original edition's pagination. Courts and journals expect the original page reference. Getting this wrong means citing a page that no one else can verify without knowing which edition you used.

Historical Dictionary Support

Anderson's Dictionary of Law provides the essential entry: "In law-books, indicates the line and word at which the pages of the first edition began." This is concise and accurate as far as it goes. Anderson treats it as a single-function device, which reflects how the term operated in nineteenth-century American and English legal publishing practice.

No significant divergence exists across historical dictionary sources on this point, in part because the term attracted so little independent treatment — it was considered a mechanical bibliographic fact rather than a legal concept requiring analysis. What historical dictionaries collectively miss is any practical guidance on how to use star pagination when working across editions, or how to handle sources where star marks were omitted in later reprints. That gap is navigational, not definitional, which is why the distinction is addressed in the research section above rather than the historical one.

Jurisdictional Note

Star pagination as a citation convention is not jurisdiction-specific in the way that substantive legal doctrines are. It is a feature of legal publishing history and applies wherever historical reporters and treatises using the system are cited — primarily in common law jurisdictions drawing on English and early American legal literature.

STARmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

In law-books, indicates the line and word at which the pages of the first edition began.

STARn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebulæ. His eyen twinkled in his head aright, As do the stars in the frosty night. Chaucer. The polestar; the north star. Shak. A planet supposed to influence one's destiny; (usually pl.) a configuration of the planets, supposed to influence fortune. O malignant and ill-brooding stars. Shak. Blesses his stars, and thinks it luxury. Addison. That which resembles the figure of a star, as an ornament worn on the breast to indicate rank or honor. On whom . . . Lavish Honor showered all her stars. Tennyson. Specifically, a radiated mark in writing or printing; an asterisk [thus, *]; -- used as a reference to a note, or to fill a blank where something is omitted, etc. A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding of a air, presents a starlike appearance. A person of brilliant and attractive qualities, especially on public occasions, as a distinguished orator, a leading theatrical performer, etc.

STARv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To set or adorn with stars, or bright, radiating bodies; to bespangle; as, a robe starred with gems. "A sable curtain starred with gold." Young.

STARv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To be bright, or attract attention, as a star; to shine like a star; to be brilliant or prominent; to play a part as a theatrical star. W. Irving.

starnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense. | Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense. | A planet thought to influence one's fate; (figuratively) fate or luck. | A very massive ball of plasma with strong enough gravity to have ongoing fusion of hydrogen or heavier elements in its core. In strict technical usage, the Sun is included. | senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks | A shape made of a few streaks meeting at a shared midpoint. | An asterisk (*) or comparable symbol (e.g., ★, ☆, ✶, ✦, ✧, ✷, ✪, ⭐) inspired by a celestial star. | senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks | A shape made of a few streaks meeting at a shared midpoint. | A network topology with multiple computers individually merging to one central switch, thus free of risk of collisions. A single point of failure can occur if the switch experiences corruption. | senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks | A shape made of a few streaks meeting at a shared midpoint. | A simple dance, or part of a dance, where a group of four dancers each put their right or left hand in the middle and turn around in a circle. You call them right-hand stars or left-hand stars, depending on the hand which is in the middle. | senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks | A concave polygon with regular, pointy protrusions and indentations, usually with four, five, or six points. | A star-shaped ornament worn on the breast to indicate rank or honour in a military. Now often used metonymically for military rankings. | senses derived from the apparent shape of a star in the sky when blurred by the eyes to have streaks | A concave polygon with regular, pointy protrusions and indentations, usually with four, five, or six points. | A symbol used to rate hotels, films, etc. with a higher number of stars denoting better quality. | senses relating to fame | An actor in a leading role. | senses relating to fame | An exceptionally talented or famous person, often in a specific field; a celebrity. | senses relating to fame | (Someone's) success or fame. | A friend, a mate, a pal. | A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding in the air, presents a starlike appearance.

STARname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Acronym of Special Task and Rescue. | Acronym of Special Tactics and Rescue. | Acronym of Southern Tagalog Arterial Road.

Starname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A surname. | A female given name from English. | A placename. | A hamlet in Lamont County, Alberta, Canada. | A placename. | A place in Russia | A work settlement in the Dyatkovsky District, Bryansk Oblast, Russia. | A placename. | A place in Russia | A village in the Maryovsky District, Novgorod Oblast, Russia. | A placename. | A place in the United Kingdom | A hamlet in Shipham civil parish, Somerset, England. | A placename. | A place in the United Kingdom | A small village in Fife council area, Scotland, also known as Star of Markinch. | A placename. | A place in the United Kingdom | A hamlet in Pembrokeshire, Wales. | A placename. | A place in the United Kingdom | A small settlement near the village of Gaerwen, Isle of Anglesey, Wales. | A placename. | A place in the United States | A city in Idaho. | A placename. | A place in the United States | An unincorporated community in Munising Township, Alger County, Michigan. | A placename. | A place in the United States | An unincorporated community in Rankin County, Mississippi. | A placename. | A place in the United States | An unincorporated community in Holt County, Nebraska. | A placename. | A place in the United States | A small town in Montgomery County, North Carolina. | A placename. | A place in the United States | An unincorporated community in Mills County, Texas. | Star class, a class of steam locomotives used on the GWR.

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