meteor

me·te·or

A meteor in the sky.

noun

The definition of a meteor is a small body of matter from outer space that comes into the atmosphere of the Earth and that looks like a streak of light due to iridescence caused by friction.

A shooting star caused by a small object from outer space entering the earth's atmosphere is an example of a meteor.

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meteor

the luminous phenomenon observed when a meteoroid is heated by its entry into the earth's atmosphere; shooting star; falling star
loosely a meteoroid or meteorite
Meteorol. any atmospheric phenomenon, as precipitation, lightning, or a rainbow

Origin of meteor

Middle English from Medieval Latin meteorum from Classical Greek mete?ron, plural mete?ra, things in the air from mete?ros, lifted up, in air from meta, beyond (see meta-) + e?ra, a hovering in the air (akin to aeirein, to lift up)

meteorological
meteorology

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Meteor. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Meteor

meteor

noun

A bright streak of light that appears in the sky when a meteoroid is heated to incandescence by friction with the earth's atmosphere. Also called falling star . Also called meteor burst . Also called shooting star .
A meteoroid or meteorite.
Archaic Any atmospheric phenomenon, such as a rainbow, lightning, or snow.

Origin of meteor

Middle English metheour atmospheric phenomenon from Old French meteore from Medieval Latin meteōrum from Greek meteōron astronomical phenomenon from neuter of meteōros high in the air meta- meta- -āoros lifted āeirein to lift up ; see wer-¹ in Indo-European roots.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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A bright trail or streak of light that appears in the night sky when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere. The friction with the air causes the rock to glow with heat. Also called shooting star
A rocky body that produces such light. Most meteors burn up before reaching the Earth's surface.
See Note at solar system

Usage The streaks of light we sometimes see in the night sky and call meteors were not identified as interplanetary rocks until the 19th century. Before then, the streaks of light were considered only one of a variety of atmospheric phenomena, all of which bore the name meteor. Rain was an aqueous meteor, winds and storms were airy meteors, and streaks of light in the sky were fiery meteors. This general use of meteor survives in our word meteorology, the study of the weather and atmospheric phenomena. Nowadays, astronomers use any of three words for rocks from interplanetary space, depending on their stage of descent to the Earth. A meteoroid is a rock in space that has the potential to collide with the Earth's atmosphere. Meteoroids range in size from a speck of dust to a chunk about 100 meters in diameter, though most are smaller than a pebble. When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere, it becomes a meteor. The light that it gives off when heated by friction with the atmosphere is also called a meteor. If the rock is not obliterated by the friction and lands on the ground, it is called a meteorite. For this term, scientists borrowed the –ite suffix used in the names of minerals like malachite and pyrite.

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Noun

(plural meteors)

(archaic) Any atmospheric phenomenon. (Thus the derivation of meteorology.) These were sometimes classified as aerial or airy meteors (winds), aqueous or watery meteors (hydrometeors: clouds, rain, snow, hail, dew, frost), luminous meteors (rainbows and aurora), and igneous or fiery meteors (lightning and shooting stars [next]).
A fast-moving streak of light in the night sky caused by the entry of extraterrestrial matter into the earth's atmosphere: A shooting star or falling star.
(juggling) A prop similar to poi balls, in that it is twirled at the end of a cord or cable.
(martial arts) A striking weapon resembling a track and field hammer consisting of a weight swung at the end of a cable or chain.

Origin

Middle English, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek Î¼ÎµÏ„ÎÏ‰ÏÎ¿Î½ (meteÅron), from Î¼ÎµÏ„ÎÏ‰ÏÎ¿Ï‚ (meteÅros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty"), from Î¼ÎµÏ„Î¬ (meta, “in the midst of, among, between") (English meta) + á¼€ÎµÎ¯ÏÏ‰ (aeiro, “to lift, to heave, to raise up").

Original sense of “atmospheric phenomenon" gave rise to meteorology, now restricted to extraterrestrial objects burning up as they enter the atmosphere.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.