meteorite

American  

[mee-tee-uh-rahyt] / ˈmi ti əˌraɪt /

noun

• meteorites
  plural

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  

/ 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

• meteorital
  adjective
• meteoritic
  adjective
• meteoritical
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• meteorites
  plural

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

See Examples For:

meteorite meteorites

There are seagull puppets, a tandem bicycle, an oil stain in the shape of a rabbit, a meteorite.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Scientists found evidence of ancient magnetic fields preserved in some of the oldest meteorite material ever identified.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026

Grizedale Observatory near Ambleside, Cumbria, opened in May 2024, offering public access to telescopes, a planetarium and meteorite laboratory, as well as staging a dark skies festival and other events.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

The Hillsborough event is only the 22nd observed fall involving a CM-type meteorite.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

They were surprised to find that, not only was there no meteorite, but several other people were searching for it in the same spot.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

He gained international recognition for his lunar research before moving to Cambridge University, where he analysed meteorites found in Antarctica that were believed to have come from Mars.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Chondrules are small rocky spheres found inside chondrites, which are among the most primitive meteorites preserved in geological collections.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

With the new calculation, the Sun's silver abundance is now much more consistent with the amount found in these ancient meteorites.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

That difference was difficult to explain because the Sun and those meteorites formed from the same cloud of gas and dust about 4.6 billion years ago.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

They’re not going to be watching movies on the couch when I come home or looking for meteorites in the woods.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson