This week’s theme
Words related to space

This week’s words
saturnalia
meteoric
venery
tellurian
constellate


Perseid meteor shower
It’s this week (Aug 12-13)

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(mee-tee-OR-ik)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Relating to a meteor or a meteorite.
2. Resembling a meteor in speed, brilliance, suddenness, or transience.
3. Coming from the atmosphere (used to describe water); meteorological.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old French meteore, from Latin meteorum, from Greek meteoron (raised in the air), from meta- (among) + aeirein (to raise). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wer- (to raise), which also gave us air, aura, aorta, artery, and arterious. Earliest documented use: 1612.

USAGE:

“Despite his meteoric climb up the corporate ladder, there was something missing for Anderson.”
Brad Davidson; Gamble of His Life; The Gold Coast Bulletin (Southport, Australia); Jul 11, 2015.

NOTES:

In the above mixed metaphor, visualize the image of a meteor climbing a ladder, one rung a time. At any rate, ever wondered why we talk about a ‘meteoric rise’ when meteors always come down?

See more usage examples of meteoric in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: