terrestrial

See also: Terrestrial

English

Etymology

From Middle English terrestrialle, from terrestre or Latin terrestris, from terra (“land, earth, ground”), with the suffix -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /təˈɹɛstɹi.əl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

terrestrial (plural terrestrials)

1. (botany) A ground-dwelling plant.
2. Alternative letter-case form of Terrestrial

Adjective

terrestrial (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to, or inhabiting the land of the Earth or its inhabitants, earthly.
   • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2. Of, relating to, or composed of land.
   • 1997, “Review: Cinderella's house”, in New Scientist, number 2096:

     Microorganisms are the Cinderellas of terrestrial ecology — the majority of the Earth's biomass, yet barely catalogued.

4. Living or growing in or on land (as opposed to other habitat); not aquatic, etc.

   a terrestrial plant

5. (astronomy) Of a planet, being composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals; see also terrestrial planet.
6. Concerned with the world or worldly matters.
   • 1744, [Edward Young], “Night the Sixth. The Infidel Reclaim’d. In Two Parts. Containing, the Nature, Proof, and Importance of Immortality. Part the First. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 14:

     A genius bright and base, / Of towering talents, and terrestrial aims.

7. (Mormonism) Of or pertaining to the second highest degree of glory.
   • 1974 February, “A Sure Trumpet Sound: Quotations from President Lee”, in Ensign‎^[1], page 77:

     We are now living and obeying celestial laws that will make us candidates for celestial glory; or we are living terrestrial laws that will make us candidates for terrestrial glory; or telestial.

   • 1977 August, Bruce R. McConkie, “A New Commandment: Save Thyself and Thy Kindred!”, in Tambuli‎^[2], page 5:

     Theirs is an everlasting terrestrial inheritance because they rejected the truth when it was offered to them in mortality.

8. (broadcasting) Broadcast using radio waves as opposed to satellite or cable.

Synonyms

• earthly
• planetary
• tellurian, telluric, Terran, terrene
• (of, relating to, or composed of land): land, landly
• (astronomy: Earth-like): telluric, rocky
• (concerned with the world): earthly, mundane, sublunary, worldly

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “of, made of, related to, or living or growing on land”): aerial, aquatic, arboreal, epiphytic
• (antonym(s) of “concerned with the world”): celestial, spiritual

Hyponyms

• subterrestrial
• superterrestrial
• supraterrestrial

 

Derived terms

Terms derived from terrestrial (adjective)

• extraterrestrial
• terrestrial albedo
• terrestrial branch
• Terrestrial Dynamical Time
• terrestrially
• terrestrial navigation
• terrestrial planet
• terrestrial telescope
• Terrestrial Time
• terrestrial time
• unterrestrial

 

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ters- (0 c, 37 e)

Translations

of, relating to, or inhabiting the Earth or its inhabitants

• Arabic: أَرْضِيّ (ʔarḍiyy)
• Armenian: ցամաքային (hy) (cʻamakʻayin)
• Belarusian: зямны́ (zjamný)
• Bulgarian: зе́мен (bg) (zémen)
• Catalan: terrestre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 地球的 (zh) (dìqiú de)

• Czech: zemní (cs), zemský (cs)
• Danish: jordisk (da), terrestrisk
• Dutch: aards (nl)
• Esperanto: tera
• Finnish: maa- (fi), maaperän (fi), Maan (fi)
• French: terrestre (fr)
• Galician: terrestre (gl) m or f
• German: irdisch (de), terrestrisch (de), Erd- (de)
• Greek: γήινος (el) (gíinos)

  Ancient: ἐπίγειος (epígeios)

• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: domhanda
• Italian: terrestre (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: terrestris (la)
• Macedonian: земен (zemen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: terrestrisk

  Nynorsk: terrestrisk

• Persian: زمینی (fa) (zamini)
• Polish: ziemski (pl)
• Portuguese: terrestre (pt), térreo (pt)
• Romanian: terestru (ro), pământesc (ro)
• Russian: земно́й (ru) (zemnój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зема̀љскӣ

  Roman: zemàljskī (sh)

• Slovak: zemný, zemský (sk)
• Slovene: zemski, zemeljski
• Spanish: terrestre (es)
• Swedish: jordisk (sv)
• Tagalog: dutain
• Tocharian B: kenätstse
• Ukrainian: земни́й (zemnýj)
• Welsh: daearol (cy)

of, pertaining to, or made of land

• Bulgarian: сухозе́мен (suhozémen)
• Finnish: maa- (fi)
• Ido: terala (io)
• Russian: земно́й (ru) (zemnój)
• Tagalog: dalatning

living or growing on land; not aquatic

• Armenian: ցամաքային (hy) (cʻamakʻayin)
• Belarusian: назе́мны (nazjémny), сухазе́мны (suxazjémny), сухапу́тны (suxapútny)
• Bulgarian: сухозе́мен (suhozémen)
• Catalan: terrestre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陸生／陆生 (zh) (lùshēng)

• Czech: suchozemský (cs), nadzemní (cs)
• Dutch: terrestrisch (nl)
• Finnish: maa- (fi)
• French: terrestre (fr) m or f
• Galician: terrestre (gl) m or f
• German: Land- (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐπίγειος (epígeios)

• Hungarian: szárazföldi (hu)
• Italian: terragnolo, terricolo (it), terragno
• Japanese: 陸生の (ja) (りくせい, rikusei)
• Latin: terrestris (la)
• Maori: nohowhenua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: terrestrisk

  Nynorsk: terrestrisk

• Polish: nadziemny (pl)
• Portuguese: terrestre (pt)
• Romanian: terestru (ro), neacvatic
• Russian: назе́мный (ru) (nazémnyj), сухопу́тный (ru) (suxopútnyj)
• Slovak: suchozemský, nadzemný
• Spanish: terrestre (es)
• Ukrainian: назе́мний (uk) (nazémnyj), сухопу́тний (suxopútnyj)
• Welsh: tirol

astronomy: being composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals

• Finnish: maankaltainen (fi)
• German: terrestrisch (de), erdähnlich (de)

concerned with the worldly matters

• Bulgarian: све́тски (bg) (svétski)
• Finnish: maallinen (fi)
• Russian: све́тский (ru) (svétskij)
• Welsh: bydol (cy)

Mormonism: of or pertaining to the second highest degree of glory

• Finnish: maanpäällinen (fi)

broadcast with radio waves

• Bulgarian: назе́мен (nazémen)
• Chinese: 地面電視／地面电视 (dìmìan dìanshì)
• Finnish: maa- (fi)
• Polish: naziemny (pl)

Further reading

• “terrestrial”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.