METEOR

noun Etymology: Middle English metheour, from Middle French ~e, from Medieval Latin ~um, from Greek meteōron, from neuter of meteōros high in air, from meta- + -eōros, from aeirein to lift Date: 15th century an atmospheric phenomenon (as lightning or a snowfall), 2. any of the small particles of matter in the solar system that are directly observable only by their incandescence from frictional heating on entry into the atmosphere, the streak of light produced by the passage of a ~