Why are meteorites called so?

Question

My head is scratching on this.

Answer 1

It comes from the Latin "Meat eator ite", from the sound ("ite")the meat eaters (ancient name for  dogs) would make when it landed on it's tail.

Or

The root word meteor comes from the Greek meteōros, meaning high in the air.

Answer 2

Meteors are the rocks in space, but when they go down towards Earth and actually hit Earth surface it is called "meteorite". Usually they disintegrate from the Earth's atmosphere.  

Answer 3

Meteor is Greek for flash of light. This represents the streak of light that we see when a meteoroid hits the atmosphere.

Meteoroid is when it is cruising around in space. And meteorite is if the rock lands on Earth.

Oid and ite are just past participles of the base word that make them sound scientific.