Procyon

This article is about the star. Procyon is also the mammalian genus to which raccoons belong. Procyon (α CMi / α Canis Minoris / Alpha Canis Minoris) is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor and the seventh brightest star in the nighttime sky.Its name comes from the Greek προκύον (prokúon), meaning "before the dog", since it precedes the "Dog Star" Sirius as it travels across the sky due to Earth's rotation. (Although Procyon has a greater right ascension, it also has a more northerly declination, which means it will rise above the horizon earlier than Sirius from most northerly latitudes.) These two dog stars are referred to in the most ancient literature and were venerated by the Babylonians and the Egyptians.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. the brightest star in Canis Minor
(hypernym) binary star, binary, double star
(member-holonym) Canis Minor, Little Dog
2. the type genus of the family Procyonidae: raccoons
(synonym) genus Procyon
(hypernym) mammal genus
(member-holonym) Procyonidae, family Procyonidae
(member-meronym) raccoon, racoon

(n.)
A star of the first magnitude in the constellation Canis Minor, or the Little Dog.
  

(n.)
A genus of mammals including the raccoon.