the.com/space rock

means A general term for a natural object from space — like an asteroid or meteoroid — especially once it's being discussed as debris, a potential impactor, or a chunk that survived the fall to Earth.

from Plainly compound: 'space' (from Latin spatium, an extent or expanse) plus 'rock' (from Old English/Old French roots meaning stone). No hidden myth here — it's 20th-century plain-English shorthand, born alongside the space age itself, when scientists and journalists needed a casual way to talk about asteroids, meteoroids, and meteorites without reaching for Latin every time.