From Middle French météore, from Old French, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron), from μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty”), from μετά (metá, “in the midst of, among, between”) (English meta) + ἀείρω (aeírō, “to lift, to heave, to raise up”).

The original sense of “atmospheric phenomenon” gave rise to meteorology, but the meaning of "meteor" is now restricted to extraterrestrial objects burning up as they enter the atmosphere.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmiːtɪ.ə/, /ˈmiːtɪɔː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmiːtiɚ/, , /ˈmiːtioɹ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Homophone: meatier

meteor (plural meteors)

1. (now meteorology) An atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon. 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).
   • c. 1587–1588, , Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene i:

     Europe, where the Sun dares ſcarce appeare,
     For freezing Meteors and congealed cold:

   • 1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 10:

     The twilight, the meteors call'd fire-balls, or flying dragons, and the northern lights, inhabit the higher regions of the atmosphere.

   • 1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: or T N Longman and O Rees, , by Biggs and Cottle, , →OCLC:

     A meteor in the hazy air / Play’d before his path; / Before him now it roll’d / A globe of livid fire Anon to Thalaba it mov’d, / And wrapt him in its pale innocuous fire.

2. 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.
3. (juggling) A prop similar to poi balls, in that it is twirled at the end of a cord or cable.
4. (martial arts) A striking weapon resembling a track and field hammer consisting of a weight swung at the end of a cable or chain.
5. (figurative) Any short-lived source of wonderment.

• (streak of light in night sky): Not to be confused with meteoroid and meteorite (cause and remains of a meteor), or asteroid and comet (celestial bodies).

• p. 1859 December, Herman Melville, “The Portent (1859)”

  But the streaming beard is shown

  (Weird John Brown),

  The meteor of the war.

• (streak of light in night sky): falling star, shooting star, faxed star, 🌠︎

• (astronomical phenomenon): asteroid, comet

meteor (third-person singular simple present meteors, present participle meteoring, simple past and past participle meteored)

1. (intransitive) To move at great speed.

• meteor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• -ometer, emoter, ometer, remote

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

meteor m (plural meteors)

1. meteor

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ^cs

• IPA^(key):

meteor m inan

1. meteor (fast-moving streak of light in the night sky caused by the entry of extraterrestrial matter into the earth's atmosphere)

   Synonyms: (dated) povětroň, létavice

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• “meteor”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “meteor”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “meteor”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

meteor c or n

1. (astronomy) meteor

• “meteor” in Den Danske Ordbog

From English meteor or German Meteor.

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: me‧te‧or
• Rhymes: -or

meteor (plural meteorok)

1. (astronomy) meteor (a fast-moving streak of light in the night sky caused by the entry of extraterrestrial matter into the earth's atmosphere)

• meteor in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ^no

From Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron).

meteor m (definite singular meteoren, indefinite plural meteorer, definite plural meteorene)

1. a meteor

• stjerneskudd, stjerneskott

• meteoritt

• “meteor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

From Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron).

meteor m (definite singular meteoren, indefinite plural meteorar, definite plural meteorane)

1. a meteor

• stjerneskot, stjerneskott

• meteoritt

• “meteor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ^pl

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek μετέωρος (metéōros).

• IPA^(key): /mɛˈtɛ.ɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɔr
• Syllabification: me‧te‧or
• Homophone: Meteor

meteor m inan (related adjective meteorowy or meteoryczny)

1. (astronomy) meteor (atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon; 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))

   Coordinate terms: meteoroid, meteoryt

2. (astronomy) meteor, falling star, shooting star (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)

   Synonyms: meteoroid, spadająca gwiazda

• meteor in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• meteor in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• meteor in PWN's encyclopedia

Borrowed from Italian meteora or French météore or German Meteor.

meteor m (plural meteori)

1. meteor (streak of light caused by extraterrestrial matter entering the atmosphere)

• IPA^(key): /metěoːr/
• Hyphenation: me‧te‧or

metèōr m (Cyrillic spelling метѐо̄р)

1. (astronomy) meteor

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ^sv

meteor c

1. meteor

• meteorisk
• meteorit

• meteorologi

• meteor in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• meteor in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• meteor in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from French météorite.

• Hyphenation: me‧te‧or

meteor (definite accusative meteoru, plural meteorlar)

1. meteor

• meteoroloji

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “meteor”, in Nişanyan Sözlük