satellite

American  

[sat-l-ahyt] / ˈsæt lˌaɪt /

noun

satellites plural

1. Astronomy. a natural body that revolves around a planet; a moon.

2. a country under the domination or influence of another.

3. something, as a branch office or an off-campus facility of a university, that depends on, accompanies, or serves something else.

4. an attendant or follower of another person, often subservient or obsequious in manner.

   Synonyms:

   flunky, toady, sycophant, parasite, lackey, associate, companion, supporter, follower

5. a device designed to be launched into orbit around the earth, another planet, the sun, etc.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or constituting a satellite.

   the nation's new satellite program.

2. using an earth-orbiting satellite to transmit communications signals; transmitted or broadcast by satellite.

   satellite radio and TV.

3. subordinate to another authority, outside power, or the like.

   summoned to a conference of satellite nations.

satellite British  

/ ˈsætəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a celestial body orbiting around a planet or star

   the earth is a satellite of the sun

2. Also called: artificial satellite.  a man-made device orbiting around the earth, moon, or another planet transmitting to earth scientific information or used for communication See also communications satellite

3. a person, esp one who is obsequious, who follows or serves another

4. a country or political unit under the domination of a foreign power

5. a subordinate area or community that is dependent upon a larger adjacent town or city

6. (modifier) subordinate to or dependent upon another

   a satellite nation

7. (modifier) of, used in, or relating to the transmission of television signals from a satellite to the house

   a satellite dish aerial

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verb

1. (tr) to transmit by communications satellite

satellite Scientific  

/ săt′l-īt′ /

1. A small body in orbit around a larger body.

2. See Note at moon

3. An object launched to orbit Earth or another celestial body. Satellites are used for research, communications, weather information, and navigation. The first artificial Earth satellite was Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union in October 1957; the first successful American satellite was launched in January 1958.

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satellite ¹ Cultural  

1. In astronomy, an object, whether natural (such as the moon) or artificial (such as a weather observation satellite), that revolves around a central body. (See under “World Politics.”)

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satellite ² Cultural  

1. Any object in orbit about some body capable of exerting a gravitational (see gravitation) force. Artificial satellites in orbit around the Earth have many uses, including relaying communication signals, making accurate surveys and inventories of the Earth's surface and weather patterns, and carrying out scientific experiments.

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satellite ³ Cultural  

1. In politics, a nation that is dominated politically by another. The Warsaw Pact nations, other than the former Soviet Union itself, were commonly called satellites of the Soviet Union.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• satellited
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• satellites
  plural

Etymology

Origin of satellite

1540–50; 1955–60 satellite for def. 2; < Latin satellit- (stem of satelles ) attendant, member of bodyguard or retinue

Explanation

A satellite is something small or less powerful that orbits around something bigger. It often describes a body in space, such as an artificial satellite that orbits the Earth and beams down signals that power devices like cell phones. The word satellite was first used to describe a follower of someone in a superior position. The word's meaning later broadened to describe anything small that's dependent on something larger. The small satellite circles around the more powerful force, like a moon orbiting a planet. Satellite can describe a small country — a satellite country — controlled by a larger one, or a large organization that has a small office — a satellite office — in another location.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

satellite satellites

Washington, though, remains a major ally of Kyiv, providing it notably with intelligence and access to the Starlink satellite system that allows its frontline troops to communicate.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

BBC Verify has been analysing satellite imagery showing the spread of the wildfire west of Madrid, which has now affected more than 27,000 hectares.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

They used airborne lidar, which measures forest structure with laser pulses, along with high-resolution PlanetScope satellite images.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

But despite such cases, North Korea is underequipped in intelligence gathering, lacking an extensive international web of spies and tools such as a global satellite network.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

The KH-11 spy satellite cost nearly a billion dollars to manufacture.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

One unresolved question involves magnetic accretion and the formation of satellites.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

The company needs to get Starship regularly flying to handle lunar missions for NASA, fortify its Starlink network and, in the future, deploy artificial-intelligence satellites.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

The upper stage deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a test SpaceX said "will provide critical data as we prepare to expand our Starlink constellation" of the company's satellite internet service.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

This space weather can interfere with satellites, communications, navigation systems, and electrical power grids on Earth.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

The agency envisioned itself developing the technology to launch weather satellites, probes we could send to the moon, and satellites that could warn us if a missile was coming.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson