Meteor Definition
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.
Other Word Forms of Meteor
Noun
Origin of Meteor
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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 akin to āeirein to lift up wer-1 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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Middle English, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek μετέωρον (meteōron), from μετέωρος (meteōros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty"), from μετά (meta, “in the midst of, among, between") (English meta) + ἀείρω (aeiro, “to lift, to heave, to raise up").
From Wiktionary
Original sense of “atmospheric phenomenon" gave rise to meteorology, now restricted to extraterrestrial objects burning up as they enter the atmosphere.
From Wiktionary
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