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Perseid

American

[pur-see-id] / ˈpɜr si ɪd /

noun

Astronomy.

any of a shower of meteors appearing in August and radiating from a point in the constellation Perseus.

Perseid British

/ ˈpɜːsɪɪd /

noun

any member of a meteor shower occurring annually around August 12th and appearing to radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Perseid

First recorded in 1870–75; Perseus ( def. ) + -id ¹ ( def. ); modeled on Italian Perseidi (plural), a term coined or used by Giovanni Schiaparelli ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Perseids are visible to the naked eye - but local weather will play a major role, so check your forecast before heading out.

From BBC • Aug. 10, 2025

When it comes to meteor showers, the Perseids pop.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2025

The Perseids - pronounced 'Per-see-ids' - are caused by debris left behind by the Swift-Tuttle comet.

From BBC • Aug. 9, 2024

Of the three major meteor showers of the year, the Perseids are unique in its summer seasonality.

From Salon • Aug. 9, 2024

Just a bit more than two weeks, around twenty-four million miles, after my seventeenth birthday, the Perseids scattered brilliant torrents of blazing dust all across the nighttime sky.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023