meteor
/ˈmiːtɪ.ə/
"meteor" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“meteor” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,959 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,959
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon. These were sometimes classified as aerial or airy meteors (winds), aqueous or watery meteors (hydrometeors: clouds, rain, snow, hail, dew, frost), lumin...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | meteor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmiːtɪ.ə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #13,959 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “meteor” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for meteor is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmiːtɪ.ə/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,959 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for meteor, with forms such as "emteor", "meetor", and "meteorr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "motor", "meter", "Meyer", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French météore, from Old French, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron), from μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty”), from μετά (metá, “in the midst of, among, between”) (English meta) + ἀείρω (aeírō, … The correct English form is meteor, spelled M-E-T-E-O-R.
Definition
- 1An atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon. These were sometimes classified as aerial or airy meteors (winds), aqueous or watery meteors (hydrometeors: clouds, rain, snow, hail, dew, frost), luminous meteors (rainbows and aurora), and igneous or fiery meteors (lightning and shooting stars).
- 2A fast-moving streak of light in the night sky caused by the entry of extraterrestrial matter into the earth's atmosphere; a shooting star or falling star.
- 3A prop similar to poi balls, in that it is twirled at the end of a cord or cable.
- 4A striking weapon resembling a track and field hammer consisting of a weight swung at the end of a cable or chain.
- 5Any short-lived source of wonderment.
Etymology
From Middle French météore, from Old French, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron), from μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty”), from μετά (metá, “in the midst of, among, between”) (English meta) + ἀείρω (aeírō, “to lift, to heave, to raise up”). The original sense of “atmospheric phenomenon” gave rise to meteorology, but the meaning of "meteor" is now restricted to extraterrestrial objects burning up as they enter the atmosphere.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emteor,meetor,meteorr,metero,metoer,metteor,mmeteor,mteeor
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of meteor - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “meteor”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-T-E-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmiːtɪ.ə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “motor” - see the side-by-side comparison. meteor vs motor
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.