An alternative or archaic name for the star Achernar, or sometimes used in older astronomical texts for other bright stars.
From Arabic al-'akhar al-nahr, meaning 'the end of the river,' referring to the star's position as the southern terminus of the Eridanus constellation. The word underwent various transliterations in European languages.
Many of the brightest stars in our night sky have Arabic names because the Islamic Golden Age produced the most advanced astronomy in medieval Europe—Acrab is one of hundreds of stellar names that proves medieval European astronomy was possible only through Arabic scholarship.
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