# satellite

Pronunciation: say "SAT-uh-lyt" /ˈsætəlaɪt/

## Noun

1. A human-made device placed in orbit around a planet or other body, usually to relay data and signals back to Earth.
   - Simple: A machine that people send into space to circle a planet and send signals back to Earth.
   - _The satellite completed one orbit of the planet every ninety minutes._
   - _Communications satellites relay television and phone signals across whole continents._
2. An object in space that circles a bigger body, as a moon does.
   - Simple: A moon or other small object in space that circles a bigger one.
   - _Jupiter's largest satellite is bigger than the planet Mercury._
   - _Astronomers tracked several small satellites orbiting the distant world._
3. A country, state, office, or building that falls under the control, influence, or domination of another body.
   - Simple: A country, group, or building that is controlled by a larger, more powerful one.
   - _For decades the region remained a satellite of the empire, taking its orders from the capital._
   - _The think tank functions as a satellite of the larger political party that funds it._
4. A town or community that lies near a larger town or city and depends on it.
   - Simple: A small town that depends on a bigger city close by for jobs and services.
   - _The town began as a small satellite serving the industrial city to its south._
   - _Planners designed several satellites around the metropolis to ease its housing shortage._
5. Reception of television broadcasts through services that rely on orbiting man-made communications equipment. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Television that reaches your home using signals beamed down from space.
   - _Out in the countryside, most homes rely on satellite for their television._
   - _The storm knocked out our satellite for the whole evening._
7. A very large array of non-coding DNA built from short sequences that repeat one after another.
   - Simple: A long stretch of DNA made of the same short pattern repeated over and over.
   - _The genome contained a large satellite of repeated sequences flanking the centromere._
   - _Researchers compared the satellites found in several closely related species._
8. A grammatical element accompanying a verb that may encode a path of movement, a change of state, or grammatical aspect.
   - Simple: In grammar, a small word added to a verb that shows direction, a change, or how an action happens.
   - _Linguists treat "across" in "swim across" as a satellite encoding the path of motion._
   - _In many languages the path of movement is carried by satellites rather than by the main verb._

## Verb

6. To transmit a broadcast or signal to distant locations by means of an orbiting satellite.
   - Simple: To send a TV or radio program to faraway places using a space satellite.
   - _Broadcasters satellite live coverage of the ceremony to affiliates worldwide._
   - _The studio satellited the concert to theaters in forty countries._

## Noun

9. An attendant or follower in the retinue of an important person, often a henchman, named with a slightly disparaging tone. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A follower who serves an important person and does what they want.
   - _The cardinal swept into the hall trailed by a satellite who hung on his every word._
   - _Court gossip blamed the king's satellites for poisoning his judgment against the queen._

## Origin

This word comes from Middle French "satellite," from Latin "satelles" meaning "attendant." Its ultimate origin is perhaps Etruscan.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/satellite (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).