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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.

See Examples For:

Perseid

Skywatchers are set to witness two major celestial events next week, with a deep partial solar eclipse followed by the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Later on Aug. 12, the Perseid meteor shower will begin its peak, continuing into the early morning of Aug. 13.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Next best thing: Meteors flaming across the sky during the August 12-13 Perseid shower peak promise the brightest show in years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

Krupp said the observatory was inundated with questions about how to view the Perseid meteor shower, which peaked overnight and early Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025

The Perseid Meteor shower commonly peaks in early August.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

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