meteorite
(ˈmiːtɪəˌraɪt)
[f. meteor + -ite1.]
A fallen meteor; a mass of stone or iron, that has fallen from the sky upon the earth; a meteoric stone. Also (loosely), a meteor or meteoroid.
| 1824 Phil. Mag. LXIV. 113, I shall..pass in review..the principal new facts..respecting igneous meteors and meteorites, which have been made known..during the year 1823. 1834 Olmsted in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. XXVI. 132 Although bodies of this class, or Meteorites, may occasionally present the same appearance as a ‘shooting star’, yet [etc.]. 1853 Phillips Rivers Yorks. iii. 106 A great meteorite or mass of iron 56 lbs. in weight fell from the sky. 1874 Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. x. (1876) 254 Meteorites, the so-called falling stars,..follow a perfectly definite track in space. |
| attrib. 1880 A. Giberne Sun, Moon & Stars 216 Among the many different Meteorite-rings which are known, two of the most important are the so-called August and November systems. Ibid., A certain number of meteorite-systems are now pretty well known to astronomers. |
Hence
ˈmeteoˌrital,
meteoˈritic,
meteoˈritical adjs., of, pertaining to, or relating to meteorites;
meteoˈritically adv.| 1867–77 G. F. Chambers Astron. 781 The produce of a meteoritic shower may be divided into meteoric iron and meteoric stone. 1889 A. Winchell in J. C. Irons J. Croll (1896) 466 The theory of meteorital aggregation. 1919 Beerbohm Seven Men 5 At the end of Term he settled in—or rather, meteoritically into—London. 1939 Pop. Astron. XLVII. 328 The Editor ventures the following suggestions relative to three..meteoritical terms. 1946 Ibid. LIV. 430 These amendments went into effect at the adjournment of the meeting on September 10; whereupon the name of the Society was officially changed from ‘The Society for Research on Meteorites’..to ‘The Meteoritical Society’. (It is hardly necessary to add that meteoritical is merely the adjective of meteoritics, defined as ‘the science of meteorites and meteors’.) 1950 New Mexico Q. Autumn 270 The Institute of Meteoritics, the first scientific organization, at least in the English-speaking world, devoted to meteoritical research. 1974 Geotimes Mar. 8, Aug. 7–9 Meteoritical Society, ann. mtg, Los Angeles. |