meteorite

American  

[mee-tee-uh-rahyt] / ˈmi ti əˌraɪt /

noun

1. a mass of stone or metal that has reached the earth from outer space; a fallen meteoroid.

2. a meteoroid.

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meteorite British  

/ ˌmiːtɪəˈrɪtɪk, ˈmiːtɪəˌraɪt /

noun

1. a rocklike object consisting of the remains of a meteoroid that has fallen on earth. It may be stony (chondrite), iron, or stony iron (pallasite) See chondrite

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meteorite Scientific  

/ mē′tē-ə-rīt′ /

1. A meteor that reaches the Earth's surface because it has not been burned up by friction with the atmosphere. Meteorites are believed to be fragments of comets and asteroids.

2. ◆ Meteorites that consist mostly of silicates are called stony meteorites and are classified as either chondrites or achondrites.

3. ◆ Meteorites that consist mostly of iron are called iron meteorites.

4. ◆ Meteorites that consist of a mixture of silicates and iron are called stony-iron meteorites.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• meteoritic
  adjective
• meteorital
  adjective
• meteoritical
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of meteorite

First recorded in 1815–25; meteor + -ite ¹

Explanation

A meteorite is a rock that falls to earth after a brilliant meteor has passed through the earth's atmosphere. If you've ever seen a shooting star at night, you can call what you're watching zip brightly across the sky a meteor. If that same meteor makes it through the atmosphere of the earth, its fire burns out and it becomes a meteorite, or a random piece of space debris that may have originally come from an asteroid or comet. The Greek root for both meteor and meteorite is ta meteora, "things in heaven above."

Example Sentences

It all started when a geologist friend told her she could buy a small piece of a lunar meteorite called Bechar 003, so she did.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

A resident has told of the "bizarre" moment he watched a suspected meteorite fly through the night sky.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

This setup allowed them to generate shock waves similar to those produced by meteorite impacts on Mars.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

During this celestial event the crew also saw flashes of light -- meteorite strikes on the lunar surface.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

The meteorite that fell on Lucé was too strange; the ones that fell on Siena were not so strange.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton