Terrestrial

See also: terrestrial

English

Etymology

From Latin terrestris, from terra (“land, earth, ground”).

Noun

Terrestrial (plural Terrestrials)

1. An inhabitant of the planet Earth.
   • 1873, Richard Anthony Proctor, The Expanse of Heaven‎^[1], page 235:

     It will be manifest that natural scenery must present many beautiful varieties of effect altogether unfamiliar to us terrestrials, who know of no colours in scenery except those inherent in the objects themselves which form the landscape.

   • 1925, Hugo Gernsback, Ralph 124C 41+, page 41:

     The other was not a Terrestrial, but a visiting Martian.

   • 1950 Fall, Poul Anderson, “Star Ship”, in Planet Stories, volume 4, number 8, page 74:

     There'd been Earthling girls; and not a few Khazaki women had been intrigued by the big Terrestrial.

Synonyms

• Earthling, Tellurian, Terran, see Thesaurus:Earthling

Antonyms

• alien, extraterrestrial, see also Thesaurus:extraterrestrial

Hypernyms

• Solarian

Hyponyms

• Earthgirl, Earthman, Earthwoman

Related terms

• Terra

Translations

inhabitant of the Earth — see Earthling

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), “Terrestrial”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 237–238.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “Terrestrial n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.