satellite
verb
- satellite
noun
- small body orbiting around a planet
- moth of the family Noctuidae
- A man-made apparatus designed to explore astronomical spaces
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsætəlaɪ̯t/ / [ˈsætʰəlaɪ̯t] ~ [ˈsætʰl̩aɪ̯t] / /ˈsæɾəlaɪ̯t/
noun
Etymology: From Middle French satellite, from Latin satelles (“attendant”). Ultimately perhaps of Etruscan origin.
- A moon or other smaller body orbiting a larger one.
“The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth.”
“A spent upper stage is a derelict satellite.”
- A man-made apparatus designed to be placed in orbit around a celestial body, generally to relay information, data etc. to Earth.
“Many telecommunication satellites orbit at 36000km above the equator.”
“A 2025 global survey revealed widespread satellite interference in astrophotography, with 90% of respondents reporting moderate or worse impacts and 97.5% stating that conditions have significantly worsened over the past five years. This interference carries a substantial burden, costing an average of 27 extra minutes of editing per image, and 78% of participants believe a critical threshold exists, estimated at a median of 25,000 satellites, beyond which astrophotography will be irreparably harmed.”
- A country, state, office, building etc. which is under the jurisdiction, influence, or domination of another body.
- An attendant on an important person; a member of someone's retinue, often in a somewhat derogatory sense; a henchman.
“We read in the Bible, that Nicanor the persecutor of Gods Law[…]sent his Satellites to apprehend the good old man Rasias[…].”
“[…]he would nevertheless have a better bargain of this tall satellite if they settled the debate betwixt them in the forest[…]. Betwixt anxiety, therefore, vexation, and anger, Charles faced suddenly round on his pursuer[…].”
- Satellite TV; reception of television broadcasts via services that use man-made satellite technology.
“Do you have satellite at your house?”
- A grammatical construct that takes various forms and may encode a path of movement, a change of state, or the grammatical aspect. Examples: "a bird flew past"; "she turned on the light".
- A very large array of tandemly repeating, non-coding DNA.
- A community or town dependent on a larger town or city nearby.
“Ahead of us the lowering smoke-screen of Leeds and her gloomy satellites hung like an incubus over the land.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle French satellite, from Latin satelles (“attendant”). Ultimately perhaps of Etruscan origin.
- To transmit by satellite.
“It had to speed up its efforts to participate in the international satellite television market. In the summer of 1986 it began satelliting TV programs to Africa, and in early 1987, to Asia and twenty countries in Latin America […]”
- To orbit, like a satellite