satellite English · revision 5967

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1548|origins=la satelles}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈsæt.əl.aɪt/, /ˈsæt.ɪ.laɪt/, US /ˈsæt̬.əl.aɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|satellite]] and directly [[bor|la|satelles|t=attendant, bodyguard, courtier]] (accusative satellitem),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) which in Cicero often meant an accomplice in a crime.^(Etymonline) The Latin word is of unknown origin:^(Etymonline) Barnhart, Klein and MWU suggest an Etruscan source,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and Tucker a compound meaning “one who goes along”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An attendant on a person of importance: before 1548 in Barnhart and the OED;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) rare before the late 18th century, and usually with a note of subservience or fawning.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1611 Kepler, writing in Latin, called the moons of Jupiter, newly discovered by Galileo, satellites, as attendants on the planet;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) Galileo himself had named them Sidera Medicea after the Medici.^(Etymonline) In English a satellite of Jupiter is from 1665,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) and the figurative use from 1771.^(OED 1989) A country dependent on and subservient to another is from 1776 in the OED and by 1800 in Etymonline, in John Adams.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A man-made object put into orbit is from 1936 in theory, after an imaginary projectile in a translation of Jules Verne,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) and it became fact in 1957.^(Etymonline) The OED has an 1880 use for a designed artificial body.^(OED 1989) The verb, to transmit by satellite, is from 1974.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1548 – an attendant.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1611 – Kepler's satellites of Jupiter, in Latin.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1665 – a moon of a planet.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1776 – a dependent country.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1936 – an artificial satellite, in theory.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1957 – the first real artificial satellite.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1974 – to transmit by satellite.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A natural body that orbits a [[planet]]; a [[moon]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A man-made object put into [[orbit]] around the earth or another body, as for communications.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A country controlled by a more powerful one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A follower of an important person, especially a subservient one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something, such as a town or office, that depends on a larger one nearby.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[transmit]] by satellite.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[satellited]]

+ * [[antisatellite]]

+ * [[biosatellite]]

+ * [[satelloid]]

+ * [[subsatellite]]

+ * [[direct broadcast satellite]]

+ * [[communications satellite]]

+ * [[satellite cell]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[satellite dish]]

+ * [[orbit]]

+ * [[moon]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}