Atira asteroid

noun

An asteroid whose orbit lies completely within the orbit of the Earth, and crosses the orbit of Venus.

OriginPawnee Atira →
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Meanings

nounAtira asteroid (plural Atira asteroids)

plural Atira asteroids

  1. An asteroid whose orbit lies completely within the orbit of the Earth, and crosses the orbit of Venus.

Origin

  1. Pawneeatira“voc. 'Mother', 'our mother'”
  2. PawneeAtira
  3. EnglishAtira asteroid

Named after the first asteroid discovered in this class, 163693 Atira, named after the Pawnee goddess of the Earth, Atira, from Pawnee Atira, from Pawnee atira (“voc. 'Mother', 'our mother'”).

More words from Pawnee

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Atira asteroid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Atira%20asteroid

MLA

“Atira asteroid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Atira%20asteroid. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Atira asteroid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Atira%20asteroid.

Source: Atira asteroid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.