/pri see"pee, pruy"seuh pee'/ , n. Astron.
an open star cluster in the center of the constellation Cancer, visible to the naked eye. Also called Beehive cluster, Manger .
[ 1650-60; praesepe crib from which cattle or horses are fed, manger; the neighboring brighter stars Gamma and Delta Cancri ( Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis ) were pictured as asses which fed from a manger ]