Tektite is a rock that is formed by the impact of an extraterrestrial body (meteorite) on the Earth's surface. During the impact, a huge amount of energy is released over a short period of time, which is converted into heat, resulting in metamorphic processes that transform the original rock into a new rock - tektite. Tektite has a predominantly glassy texture and can be compared to natural glass or obsidian. The difference with impactites is that, unlike impactites, tektites have undergone air transport, so they occur outside the source meteorite crater.

The term tektite is derived from the Greek word 'tektós', or molten, and was first used by the Austrian geologist Franz Eduard Suess in 1890.