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météorite

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Etymology and origin of the French word météorite

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1822 Nouveau dictionnaire de médecine More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek μετέωρος

Forms

météorite f (plural météorites)[1] The dictionaries give it as feminine, but the masculine is common in everyday use.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French météore + -ite.[2][3][5] The base was first recorded as metheores about 1270 and is borrowed from Ancient Greek μετέωρα (metéōra, “celestial phenomena or bodies”), the neuter plural of μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised up, in the air”).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1822, in the Nouveau dictionnaire de médecine of Béclard, Chomel, Cloquet and Orfila, for a stone that falls from space.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its single scientific sense: a stony or metallic fragment of cosmic matter that reaches the ground.[2][5] Littré already noted that some speakers made it masculine,[6] and the TLFi and the DHLF note that the masculine is frequent in ordinary usage, though the dictionaries keep it feminine.[2][4] The adjective météoritique was formed from it, recorded by Littré in 1872.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1270 – The base météore is first recorded, as metheores.[2][4]
  • 1822 – Météorite appears in the Nouveau dictionnaire de médecine.[2][5]
  • 1872 – Littré records the derivative météoritique.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A meteorite: a stony or metallic fragment of matter from space that falls to Earth after burning through the atmosphere.[2][7]

Word family

  • météoritique
  • météore
  • aérolithe

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Météorite.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/m%C3%A9t%C3%A9orite. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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