constellation |ˌkänstəˈlā sh ən|nouna group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure. Modern astronomers divide the sky into eighty-eight constellations with defined boundaries.• a group or cluster of related things : no two patients ever show exactly the same constellation of symptoms.ORIGIN Middle English (as an astrological term denoting the relative positions of the “stars” (planets), supposed to influence events): via Old French from late Latin constellatio(n-), based on Latin stella ‘star.’