earth
see also: Earth
Etymology

From Middle English erthe, from Old English eorþe, from Proto-West Germanic *erþu, from Proto-Germanic *erþō (compare Western Frisian ierde, Low German Eerd, Dutch aarde, nds-nl eerde, German Erde, Danish -, Swedish - and Norwegian jord), related to *erwô ("earth") (compare Old High German ero, perhaps Old Norse jǫrfi), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁er- (compare Ancient Greek *ἔρα, “earth” in ἔραζε ("to the ground, to earth"), perhaps Tocharian B yare.

Probably unrelated, and of unknown etymology, is Old Armenian երկիր (erkir, “earth”). Likewise, the phonologically similar sem-pro *ʔarṣ́- – whence Arabic أَرْض (ʔarḍ), Hebrew אֶרֶץ (ʾereṣ) – is probably not related.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ɜːθ/
  • (America, Canada) IPA: /ɝθ/
  • (New Zealand) IPA: /ɵːθ/
  • (Ghana) IPA: /ɜθ/, IPA: /ɝθ/
Proper noun
  1. Alternative case form of Earth; our planet, third out from the Sun.
    The astronauts saw the earth from the porthole.
    • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC ↗, part I, page 193 ↗:
      We live in the flicker - may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling!
Noun

earth

  1. (uncountable) Soil.
    This is good earth for growing potatoes.
  2. (uncountable) Any general rock-based material.
    She sighed when the plane's wheels finally touched earth.
  3. The ground, land (as opposed to the sky or sea).
    Birds are of the sky, not of the earth.
  4. (British) A connection electrically to the earth ((US) ground); on equipment: a terminal connected in that manner.
  5. The lair or den (as a hole in the ground) of an animal such as a fox.
  6. A region of the planet; a land or country.
  7. Worldly things, as against spiritual ones.
  8. The world of our current life (as opposed to heaven or an afterlife).
    • 1819 May, John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC ↗, stanza 5, page 116 ↗:
      "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
  9. (metonymically) The people on the globe.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Genesis 11:1 ↗, column 2:
      And the whole earth was of one language, and of one ſpeach.
  10. Any planet similar to the Earth (our earth): an exoplanet viewed as another earth, or a potential one.
    New space telescopes may accelerate the search for other earths that may be out there.
  11. (archaic) The human body.
  12. (alchemy, philosophy and Taoism) The aforementioned soil- or rock-based material, considered one of the Classical element.
  13. (chemistry, obsolete) Any of certain substances now known to be oxides of metal, which were distinguished by being infusible, and by insolubility in water.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

earth (earths, present participle earthing; simple past and past participle earthed)

  1. (UK, transitive) To connect electrically to the earth.
    Synonyms: ground
    That noise is because the amplifier is not properly earthed.
  2. (transitive) To bury.
    • 1745, [Edward Young], “Night the Ninth and Last. The Consolation. Containing, among Other Things, I. A Moral Survey of the Nocturnal Heavens. II. A Night-Address to the Deity. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: […] [Samuel Richardson] for A[ndrew] Millar […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1750, →OCLC ↗, page 328 ↗:
      The Miſer earths his Treaſure; and the Thief, / Watching the Mole, half-beggars him ere Morn.
  3. (transitive) To hide, or cause to hide, in the earth; to chase into a burrow or den.
    • 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, Act IV, page 48 ↗:
      […] the Fox is earth’d, […]
  4. (intransitive) To burrow.
Translations
  • French: relier à la terre, mettre à la terre
  • German: erden
  • Italian: mettere a terra, collegare a terra
  • Portuguese: aterrar
  • Russian: заземля́ть
  • Spanish: aterrar, conectar a tierra, poner a tierra
Translations
Earth
Etymology

From Middle English erthe, from Old English eorþe, from Proto-Germanic *erþō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁er-.

Pronunciation Proper noun
  1. The third planet of the Solar System; the world upon which humans live.
  2. The personification of the Earth or earth, (chiefly) as a fertile woman or (religion) goddess.
Synonyms Translations


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