Leonids

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A meteor shower occurring annually in November, associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle, when remnants of this comet enter Earth's atmosphere
2. A series of bright meteors visible from Earth each year around mid-November, originating from the debris of a specific comet
3. An astronomical phenomenon characterized by numerous meteors radiating from a point in the constellation Leo, marking an exciting event for stargazers

Etymology: The name "Leonids" is a plural noun built on "Leonid", which refers to the meteor shower's apparent source: the constellation Leo, from whose region in the sky the meteors seem to radiate. The Latin-derived "Leo" is the lion of the zodiac, and the "-id" ending marks the shower as belonging to Leo, much as a "Perseid" belongs to Perseus. The plural "-s" at the end comes from English, which adds it to the new noun "Leonid" to name the whole stream of meteors rather than a single one. The ending itself is ancient: it descends from Old English "-as", the common plural marker, which traces back through Proto-Germanic to the Proto-Indo-European plural endings of the ancient languages.