n. 1. A bright streak of light that appears in the sky when a meteoroid is heated to incandescence by friction with the earth's atmosphere. Also called falling star, meteor burst, shooting star. 2. A meteoroid or meteorite. 3. Archaic Any atmospheric phenomenon, such as a rainbow, lightning, or snow. [Middle English metheour, atmospheric phenomenon, from Old French meteore, from Medieval Latin meteōrum, from Greek meteōron, astronomical phenomenon, from neuter of meteōros, high in the air : meta-, meta- + -āoros, lifted; akin to āeirein, to lift up; see wer-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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