satellite

plural satellites

1. archaicAn attendant on an important person; a member of someone's retinue, often in a somewhat derogatory sense; a henchman.First known use 16th c.

   We read in the Bible, that Nicanor the persecutor of Gods Law[…]sent his Satellites to apprehend the good old man Rasias[…].

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

   3 more examples

   […]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[…].

   1826, Woodstock, Walter Scott, page 348

   Inspector Meadows was a small man with a ginger head and what I considered a peculiarly irritating manner. A satellite, also in plain clothes, sat unobtrusively in a corner.

   1924, Agatha Christie, The Man in the Brown Suit

   The unnamed chronicler in his Dupin stories was the first Dr. Watson type of satellite—a narrator who accompanies the detective on his exploits, exclaims over his brilliance[…].

   1948, Willard E. Hawkins, The Technique of Fiction: A Basic Course in Story Writing, page 169

2. A moon or other smaller body orbiting a larger one.First known use 17th c.

   A spent upper stage is a derelict satellite.

   2 more examples

   The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth.

   At that time they suspected that Triton's frigid temperature might liquefy nitrogen but not be cold enough to freeze it. Thus they had predicted that Neptune's only big satellite—nearly the size of our moon—might be covered by an ocean of nitrogen, interspersed with continents of methane ice.

   1990 August, Rick Gore, “Neptune: Voyager's Last Picture Show”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, page 37

3. A man-made apparatus designed to be placed in orbit around a celestial body, generally to relay information, data, etc. to Earth.First known use 20th c.

   Many telecommunication satellites orbit at 36000km above the equator.

   1 more example

   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.

   2025 December 8, Ruskin Hartley, “More than just streaks: 5 truths from the astrophotographers documenting our crowded skies”, in DarkSky International

   Synonyms: artificial satellite

4. colloquialuncountableSatellite TV; reception of television broadcasts via services that use man-made satellite technology.First known use 20th c.

   Do you have satellite at your house?

5. A country, state, office, building etc. which is under the jurisdiction, influence, or domination of another body.First known use 19th c.
6. 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.

   1949 March and April, F. G. Roe, “I Saw Three Englands–2”, in Railway Magazine, page 82

7. grammarA 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".
8. biologyA very large array of tandemly repeating, non-coding DNA.

present singular third person satellites · participle present satelliting · participle past satellited · past satellited

1. transitivebroadcastingTo 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 […]

   1997, Alvin A. Snyder, Warriors of Disinformation, page 160

2. To orbit, like a satellite