meteor

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Homophone: meatier

Noun

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, [Christopher Marlowe], 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, volumes (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.

Usage notes

• (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).

Quotations

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

  But the streaming beard is shown

  (Weird John Brown),

  The meteor of the war.

Synonyms

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

Coordinate terms

• (astronomical phenomenon): asteroid, comet

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To move at great speed.

Further reading

• meteor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• -ometer, emoter, ometer, remote

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

Noun

meteor m (plural meteors)

1. meteor

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

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)

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

See also

• létavice
• povětroň

Further reading

• meteor in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• meteor in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Noun

meteor c or n

1. (astronomy) meteor

Declension

Further reading

• “meteor” in Den Danske Ordbog

Hungarian

Etymology

From English meteor or German Meteor.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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)

Declension

References

Further reading

• meteor in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron).

Noun

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

1. a meteor

Synonyms

• stjerneskudd, stjerneskott

Derived terms

• meteoritt

References

• “meteor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron).

Noun

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

1. a meteor

Synonyms

• stjerneskot, stjerneskott

Derived terms

• meteoritt

References

• “meteor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

meteor

Wikipedia ^pl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛˈtɛ.ɔr/

• Audio

  (file)

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

Noun

meteor m inan

1. (astronomy) meteor

Declension

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian meteora or French météore or German Meteor.

Noun

meteor m (plural meteori)

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

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

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

Noun

metèōr m (Cyrillic spelling метѐо̄р)

1. (astronomy) meteor

Declension

Swedish

Noun

meteor c

1. meteor

Declension

Related terms

• meteorisk
• meteorit

See also

• meteorologi

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French météorite.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: me‧te‧or

Noun

meteor (definite accusative meteoru, plural meteorlar)

1. meteor

See also

• meteoroloji

References

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