satellite

Syllables: sat·el·lite/ˈsætəlaɪ̯t/

satellite noun: a moon or other smaller body orbiting a larger one.

Noun

satellite (plural satellites)

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

artificial satellite
A country, state, office, building etc. which is under the jurisdiction, influence, or domination of another body.
(archaic) 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[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- […]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
(colloquial, uncountable) 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.1949 March and April, F. G. Roe, “I Saw Three Englands–2”, in Railway Magazine, page 82

Verb

satellite (third-person singular simple present satellites, present participle satelliting, simple past and past participle satellited)

(transitive) 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 […]1997, Alvin A. Snyder, Warriors of Disinformation, page 160
To orbit, like a satellite

satellite meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

satellite in Hindi

a body orbiting a larger one: उपग्रह upagrah, प्राकृतिक उपग्रह prākŕtik upagrah
man-made apparatus designed to be placed in orbit around a celestial body: उपग्रह upagrah, कृत्रिम उपग्रह kŕtrim upagrah

satellite in Tamil

a body orbiting a larger one: துணைக்கோள் tuṇaikkōḷ
man-made apparatus designed to be placed in orbit around a celestial body: செயற்கைக்கோள் ceyaṟkaikkōḷ
colloquial: satellite TV: செய்மதி தொலைக்காட்சி ceymati tolaikkāṭci

satellite in Marathi

उपग्रह

satellite in Urdu

a body orbiting a larger one: سَیَّارْچَہ sayyārca
man-made apparatus designed to be placed in orbit around a celestial body: مَصْنُوعی سَیَّارْچَہ masnū'ī sayyārca

More languagesFewer languages

satellite in Bengali: উপগ্রহ upogroho
satellite in Telugu: ఉపగ్రహము upagrahamu
satellite in Malayalam: ഉപഗ്രഹം upagrahaṁ
satellite in Kannada: ಅಟ್ಟಿಗ aṭṭiga
satellite in Punjabi: ਉਪਗ੍ਰਹਿ upagrhi
satellite in Gujarati: ઉપગ્રહ, સેટેલાઇટ, સેટેલાઈટ
satellite in Odia: ଉପଗ୍ରହ, ସାଟେଲାଇଟ୍, ସାଟେଲାଇଟିଙ୍ଗ
satellite in Assamese: কৃত্ৰিম উপগ্ৰহ kritrim upogroh
satellite in Nepali: उपग्रह, स्याटेलाइट, उपग्रहीय
satellite in Tagalog: buntabay, likhang buntabay
satellite in Arabic: قَمَر qamar, تَابِع tābiʕ, قَمَر اِصْطِنَاعِيّ qamar iṣṭināʕiyy
satellite in Malay: satelit
satellite in Indonesian: satelit, satelit buatan
satellite in Thai: บริวาร bɔɔ-rí-waan, ดาวเทียม daao-tiiam
satellite in Vietnamese: vệ tinh, vệ tinh nhân tạo, truyền hình vệ tinh
satellite in Myanmar: အရံဂြိုဟ် a.ramgruih, ဂြိုဟ်တု gruihtu.

Examples of satellite in a sentence

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:
A satellite, also in plain clothes, sat unobtrusively in a corner.1924, Agatha Christie, The Man in the Brown Suit:
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:

All 40 example sentences with satellite

Synonyms of satellite

Forms of satellite

Noun
plural	satellites
Verb
third-person singular present	satellites
present participle	satelliting
past participle	satellited
past	satellited

Plural of satellite: satellites

Origin of satellite

From Middle French satellite, from Latin satelles (“attendant”). Ultimately perhaps of Etruscan origin.

Words formed from satellite

Questions about satellite

What does satellite mean?: Satellite means a moon or other smaller body orbiting a larger one.
What is satellite in Hindi?: Satellite in Hindi is उपग्रह (upagrah), प्राकृतिक उपग्रह (prākŕtik upagrah), कृत्रिम उपग्रह (kŕtrim upagrah). See Satellite meaning in Hindi.
How do you use satellite in a sentence?: 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.
What part of speech is satellite?: Satellite can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce satellite?: Satellite is pronounced /ˈsætəlaɪ̯t/.
What is the plural of satellite?: The plural of satellite is satellites.

Words near satellite in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: satellite (page history and authors); satellite (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ఉపగ్రహము (Telugu) (page history and authors); ഉപഗ്രഹം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಅಟ್ಟಿಗ (Kannada) (page history and authors); satellite (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); satellite (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); কৃত্ৰিম উপগ্ৰহ (Assamese) (page history and authors); satellite (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-satellite.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-satellite.wav.

Cite this entry: “satellite.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/satellite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.