Pleiades

[plee-uh-deez, plahy-] /ˈpli əˌdiz, ˈplaɪ-/

plural noun
1.
Classical Mythology. seven daughters of Atlas and half sisters of the Hyades, placed among the stars to save them from the pursuit of Orion. One of them (the Lost Pleiad, ) hides, either from grief or shame.
2.
Astronomy. a conspicuous group or cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus, commonly spoken of as seven, though only six are visible.
[plee-uh d, plahy-uh d] /ˈpli əd, ˈplaɪ əd/
noun
1.
any of the Pleiades.
2.
French Pléiade
[pley-yad] /pleɪˈyad/ (Show IPA). a group of seven French poets of the latter half of the 16th century.
3.
(usually lowercase) any group of eminent or brilliant persons or things, especially when seven in number.
/ˈplaɪəˌdiːz/
plural noun
1.
(Greek myth) the seven daughters of Atlas, placed as stars in the sky either to save them from the pursuit of Orion or, in another account, after they had killed themselves for grief over the death of their half-sisters the Hyades
/ˈplaɪəˌdiːz/
plural noun
1.
a young conspicuous open star cluster approximately 370 light years away in the constellation Taurus, containing several thousand stars only six or seven of which are visible to the naked eye Compare Hyades1
/ˈplaɪəd/
noun
1.
a brilliant or talented group, esp one with seven members
/ˈplaɪəd/
noun
1.
one of the Pleiades (stars or daughters of Atlas)
n.

late 14c., the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, transformed by Zeus into seven stars, from Latin Pleiades, from Greek Pleiades, perhaps literally “constellation of the doves” from a shortened form of peleiades, plural of peleias “dove” (from PIE root *pel- “dark-colored, gray”). Or perhaps from plein “to sail,” because the season of navigation begins with their heliacal rising.

Old English had the name from Latin as Pliade. Mentioned by Hesiod (pre-700 B.C.E.), only six now are visible to most people; on a clear night a good eye can see nine (in 1579, well before the invention of the telescope, the German astronomer Michael Moestlin (1550-1631) correctly drew 11 Pleiades stars); telescopes reveal at least 500. Hence French pleiade, used for a meeting or grouping of seven persons.
Pleiades
(plē’ə-dēz’)
A loose collection of several hundred stars in the constellation Taurus, at least six of which are visible to the unaided eye.

Heb. kimah, “a cluster” (Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos 5:8, A.V., “seven stars;” R.V., “Pleiades”), a name given to the cluster of stars seen in the shoulder of the constellation Taurus.