Earth & SkyGreek → English
Lyrid
/ˈlaɪrɪd/noun
A meteor from the April shower that appears to radiate from the constellation Lyra.
The Greek roots
λύρα
lýra
lyre
-ίδης
-ídēs
descendant of, belonging to
Literally: “one of the Lyre”
The story of the word
The April meteors come out of the sky near Vega, so they carry the constellation's name. λύρα was the tortoise-shell instrument of Greek song, and the constellation is Orpheus's lyre, set among the stars after his death. Chinese astronomers recorded a Lyrid shower in 687 BC, which makes it the oldest meteor shower on record anywhere.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
lyrelyricPerseid
In a sentence
The Lyrids are thin most years, perhaps twenty an hour.
One Lyrid burned green and lasted long enough to point at.