Kuiperoid

//ˈkaɪpəɹɔɪd// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Kuiper belt object, such as Pluto

    "I'm fascinated by the relatively small "ice balls" in the very outer part of the solar system. I have often wondered what bodies lay out there fainter than 17th magnitude, the limit of the plates I took at Lowell Observatory. May I suggest we call this new class of objects "Kuiperoids"?"

Example

More examples

"I'm fascinated by the relatively small "ice balls" in the very outer part of the solar system. I have often wondered what bodies lay out there fainter than 17th magnitude, the limit of the plates I took at Lowell Observatory. May I suggest we call this new class of objects "Kuiperoids"?"

Etymology

Blend of Kuiper belt + asteroid, a name suggested by Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.