The Sun's - or a star similar to the Sun - life cycle involves birth in a nebula, fusion of the elements for billions of years, the red giant phase, followed by the planetary nebula phase, and the outcome of all this is a white dwarf remnant. For a star much more massive than the Sun, say, 50 times, the fusion phase lasts only millions of years, the star then self-destructs in a powerful supernova event, and a black hole is formed. Today we reviewed these life cycles, and some of the associated vocabulary, such as the origin of the word 'massive' used both to describe a star much 'heavier' than the Sun, or the gargantuan black holes in the centers of galaxies (as in 'supermassive').