— asteroidal , adj.
/as"teuh royd'/ , n.
1. Also called minor planet . Astron. any of the thousands of small bodies of from 480 miles (775 km) to less than one mile (1.6 km) in diameter that revolve about the sun in orbits lying mostly between those of Mars and Jupiter.
2. Zool. an asteroidean; a starfish.
adj.
3. starlike.
[ 1795-1805; asteroeidés starry, starlike. See ASTERISK, -OID ]