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How did Orion's red giant get the name Betelguese?

The letters B and Y in Arabic look very similar and may be easily confused by the untrained eye.

When early Arabic works on astronomy were translated into European languages, it is believed that a transcriber incorrectly wrote bad al-jauza, which eventually became Betelgeuse. Most experts agree it should have been written yad al-jawza’ which means "The Hand of the Giant" -- the giant being Orion -- especially since bad al jauza has no meaning in Arabic!