me·te·or 
(mētē-ər, -ôr′)
(mētē-ər, -ôr′)n.
1. A bright streak of light that appears in the sky when a meteoroid is heated to incandescence by friction with the earth's atmosphere. Also called falling star, meteor burst, shooting star.
2. A meteoroid or meteorite.
3. Archaic Any atmospheric phenomenon, such as a rainbow, lightning, or snow.
[Middle English metheour, atmospheric phenomenon, from Old French meteore, from Medieval Latin meteōrum, from Greek meteōron, astronomical phenomenon, from neuter of meteōros, high in the air : meta-, meta- + -āoros, lifted; akin to āeirein, to lift up; see wer-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]