asteroid

• enPR: ăs'tə-roid", IPA^(key): /ˈæst(ə)ɹɔɪd/

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An asteroid.

From aster +‎ -oid, lit. "star-like". Coined by William Herschel.

asteroid (plural asteroids)

1. (astronomy) A naturally occurring solid object, which is smaller than a planet and a dwarf planet, larger than a meteoroid and not a comet, that orbits a star and often has an irregular shape.
2. (astronomy) In the Solar system, such a body that orbits within the orbit of Jupiter
   • 2007, Hannu Karttunen et al., editors, Fundamental Astronomy, 5th edition, page 131:

     The orbital planes of asteroids, minor bodies that circle the Sun mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, are often more tilted ...

The term "asteroid" has never been precisely defined. It was coined for objects which looked like stars in a telescope but moved like planets. These were known from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and were later found co-orbiting with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids) and within the orbit of Mars. They were naturally distinguished from comets, which did not look at all starlike. Starting in the 1970s, small non-cometary bodies were found outside the orbit of Jupiter, and usage became divided as to whether to call these "asteroids" as well. Some astronomers restrict the term "asteroid" to rocky or rocky-icy bodies with orbits up to Jupiter. They may retain the term planetoid for all small bodies, and thus tend to use it for icy or rocky-icy bodies beyond Jupiter, or may use dedicated words such as centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, transneptunian objects, etc. for the latter. Other astronomers use "asteroid" for all non-cometary bodies smaller than a planet, even large ones such as Sedna and (occasionally) Pluto. However, the distinction between asteroid and comet is an artificial one; many outer "asteroids" would become comets if they ventured nearer the Sun. The IAU terminology since 2006 has been small Solar System body for any body that orbits the Sun directly and whose shape is not dominated by gravity.

• astroid
• comet
• exoasteroid
• meteor
• meteorite
• planetoid

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀστεροειδής (asteroeidḗs), from ἀστήρ (astḗr, “star”) + εἶδος (eîdos, “form”). Analyzable as aster- +‎ -oid

asteroid (plural asteroids)

1. (zoology) Any member of the taxonomic class Asteroidea; a starfish.

• “asteroid”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “asteroid”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• ideators

• IPA^(key): [ˈastɛroɪt]

asteroid m inan

1. asteroid

• See astro-

• planetka

• asteroid in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu
• asteroid in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• asteroid in Internetová jazyková příručka

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ɑsteˈroi̯d̥/, [ɑsteˈroi̯d̥], /ˈɑsteroi̯d̥/, [ˈɑsteroi̯d̥]

asteroid (genitive asteroidi, partitive asteroidi)

1. asteroid

• “asteroid”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009

From English asteroid.

• IPA^(key): [asteˈroɪt̚]
• Hyphenation: as‧té‧ro‧id

astéroid (first-person possessive asteroidku, second-person possessive asteroidmu, third-person possessive asteroidnya)

1. (astronomy) asteroid

   Synonym: planetoid

• “asteroid” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from French astéroïde.

asteroid m (plural asteroizi)

1. asteroid

• asteroid in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

• IPA^(key): /asterǒiːd/

asteròīd m (Cyrillic spelling астеро̀ӣд)

1. asteroid

• “asteroid” in Hrvatski jezični portal

• IPA^(key): /astɛrɔíːt/

asteroȋd m inan

1. asteroid

• “asteroid”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “asteroid”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

• Rhymes: -iːd

asteroid c

1. asteroid