Meteorite

Meteorite
Meteorite Me"te*or*ite, n. [Cf. F. m['e]t['e]orite.] (Min.) A mass of stone or iron which has fallen to the earth from space; an a["e]rolite. [1913 Webster]

Note: Meteorites usually show a pitted surface with a fused crust, caused by the heat developed in their rapid passage through the earth's atmosphere. A meteorite may consist: 1. Of metallic iron, alloyed with a small percentage of nickel (meteoric iron, holosiderite). When etched this usually exhibits peculiar crystalline figures, called Widmanst["a]tten figures. 2. Of a cellular mass of iron with imbedded silicates (mesosiderite or siderolite). 3. Of a stony mass of silicates with little iron (meteoric stone, sporadosiderite). 4. Of a mass without iron (asiderite). [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • Meteorite — Meteorite, Meteorsteine, Mondsteine, Aerolithe, kosmische Körper, welche in Klumpen oder Staubform, zumeist unter starkem Geräusch und in erhöhter Temperatur auf die Erde niederfallen. Ihre Beschaffenheit ähnelt vielfach irdischen Gesteinen,… …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • meteorite — s.f. o m. [der. di meteora ]. (astron.) [corpo solido costituito prevalentemente da materiali a base di silicati e da leghe ferro nichel, che, provenendo dagli spazi interplanetari, raggiunge la superficie della Terra] ▶◀ ‖ bolide, meteora …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • meteorite — (n.) rock that falls to earth, after streaking across the sky as a meteor, 1818, from METEOR (Cf. meteor) + ITE (Cf. ite) …   Etymology dictionary

  • meteorite — s. f. [Astronomia] O mesmo que meteorito.   ‣ Etimologia: meteoro + ite …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • meteorite — ► NOUN ▪ a piece of rock or metal that has fallen to the earth from space …   English terms dictionary

  • meteorite — [mēt′ē ər īt΄] n. that part of a relatively large meteoroid that survives passage through the atmosphere and falls to the surface of a planet or moon as a mass of metal or stone meteoritic [mēt′mə ərit′ik] adj …   English World dictionary

  • Meteorite — This article is about debris from space that survives impact with the ground. For other uses of Meteor and Meteors , see Meteor (disambiguation). For popular applications, see Falling star. For the fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics… …   Wikipedia

  • meteorite — meteoritic /mee tee euh rit ik/, meteoritical, meteorital /mee tee euh ruyt l/, adj. /mee tee euh ruyt /, n. 1. a mass of stone or metal that has reached the earth from outer space; a fallen meteoroid. 2. a meteoroid. [1815 25; METEOR + ITE1] * * …   Universalium

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