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

• meteorital adjective
• meteoritic 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

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

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

He said he believed the meteorite was tracked from near Cardiff across to Hull and Grimsby before potentially landing in the North Sea.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Among NASA's team in Houston, there were "audible screams of delight" from scientists when the crew described flashes of light caused by meteorite impact, Young said.

From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026

While large meteorite impacts and major volcanic eruptions are rare in any given year, they are inevitable over long timescales.

From Science Daily • Mar. 20, 2026

On 13 September 1768 a large meteorite, weighing seven and a half pounds, fell at Lucé, Pays de la Loire.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton