History and Naming
The traditional name, Wezen, is derived from the medieval Arabic وزن al-wazn, which means "weight" in modern Arabic. The name was for one of a pair of stars, the other being Hadar, which has now come to refer to Beta Centauri. It is unclear whether the pair of stars was originally Alpha and Beta Centauri or Alpha and Beta Columbae. In any case, the name was somehow applied to both Delta Canis Majoris and Beta Columbae. Richard Hinckley Allen muses that the name alludes to the difficulty the star has rising above the (northern hemisphere) horizon. Astronomer Jim Kaler has noted the aptness of the traditional name given the star's massive nature.
In Chinese, 弧矢 (Hú Shǐ), meaning Bow and Arrow, refers to an asterism consisting of δ Canis Majoris, η Canis Majoris, HD 63032, HD 65456, ο Puppis, k Puppis, ε Canis Majoris, κ Canis Majoris and π Puppis. Consequently, δ Canis Majoris itself is known as 弧矢一 (Hú Shǐ yī, English: the First Star of Bow and Arrow.)
In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket, this star was designated Thalath al Adzari (تالت ألعذاري - taalit al-aðārii), which was translated into Latin as Tertia Virginum, meaning the third virgin. This star, along with ε CMa (Adhara), η CMa (Aludra) and ο2 CMa (Thanih al Adzari), were Al ʽAdhārā (ألعذاري), the Virgins.
Read more about this topic: Delta Canis Majoris
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“What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,—for if men read aright, methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor philosophy can supply their place.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)