Asterisk the Word

choi

Ben Zimmer, asterisk; A modest symbol finds its starring moment. Wall Street Journal, Aug 29, 2020 (in the Review section published every Saturday).

Quote:

" 'asterisk,' that little star-shaped figure (*) most often used to mark an omission, error or annotation.

"The word 'asterisk' -- literally 'little star' -- started off as [Ancient] Greek [noun masculine] 'asteriskos' before migrating to Lati and other languages. 'Asterisk' is a diminutive form of 'aster,' meaning 'star,' also the root for such words as 'astral,' 'asteroid,' [I may add astrology] and even 'disaster' ((originally referring to a calamity blamed on heavenly bodies, like those 'star-crossed lovers' Romeo and Juliet).

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest.
(b) disaster (n)
https://www.etymonline.com/word/disaster