I'd only learned 惑星 as a word for planet, so it's interesting that 遊星 is also used with that meaning, a "playing star". Apparently this comes from the older meaning of the character 遊 in Chinese, which is something closer to "roam" or "travel" than strictly just "play".
I'd only learned 惑星 as a word for planet, so it's interesting that 遊星 is also used with that meaning, a "playing star". Apparently this comes from the older meaning of the character 遊 in Chinese, which is something closer to "roam" or "travel" than strictly just "play".
Probably similar to how "wandering star" was used in the Western ancient world to describe planets
In fact I believe it's a calque of that.