Tycho Brahe popularized 'nova stella' (new star) in 1572 — literally naming the unknown after its newness.
A star that suddenly increases enormously in brightness and then slowly returns to its original state over weeks or months, caused by a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf star.
Short for 'nova stella' (new star), from Latin 'nova,' feminine of 'novus' (new), from Proto-Indo-European '*néwos' (new). When Tycho Brahe observed a brilliant 'new star' appearing in the constellation Cassiopeia in 1572, he titled his treatise 'De Nova Stella' (Concerning the New Star). The term stuck. What Brahe observed was actually a supernova, but the term 'nova' came to be applied to the less dramatic stellar explosions that had been observed throughout history. Key roots: novus (Latin: "new"), *néwos (Proto-Indo-European: "new").
The English word 'new' and the Latin 'novus' (which gives 'nova') are cognates — both descend from PIE '*néwos.' They separated thousands of years ago as Germanic and Italic diverged, but the meaning never changed. 'New' is one of the most stable words in the Indo-European family, retaining essentially the same meaning across five